Tales of a King: Search for Drake
by HobbitsizedWhovian
Summary: Alexandria King has been Nathan Drake's partner in crime since they were teenagers. Over the years, Nate has gotten into loads of trouble, but Alex has always been there to pull him out. This time, they are on the trail of the infamous Sir Francis Drake and as per usual, run into trouble along the way. (Yeah, yeah, summary sucks, I know) (Rated T because I'm paranoid)
1. Uh pirates

**Hello readers! I decided to try my hand at an Uncharted story. Please read and review! Enjoy!**

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"I'm here off the coast of Panama, where we've just recovered what we believe to be the coffin of legendary explorer Sir Francis Drake, who was buried at sea over 400 years ago," Elena Fisher announced. Pausing in the game of toss and catch I was playing with my knife, I glanced at her as she wandered around the coffin, filming the entire thing for some show of hers. A light ocean breeze rustled my short black hair as I turned my attention back to the barnacle encrusted coffin.

"Alex, toss me that crowbar, will ya?" My partner in crime and best friend Nathan Drake asked.

"Sure," I replied, replacing my knife and hopping of the cargo box I had perched myself on and grabbed the item in question. "Heads up." I tossed the metal bar to him.

"Thanks!" Nate jammed the crowbar under the lid of the coffin, attempting to pry it up.

"Are you sure you wanna be defiling your ancestor's remains like that?" Elena questioned.

"You make it sound so dirty," Nate laughed, moving to the other side.

"Is there ever a time when your head isn't in the gutter, Nate?" I asked with an amused smile.

Nate smirked. "Your's isn't much better, Alex." I shrugged. He had a point. He turned his attention back to our hired reporter as he continued opening the coffin. "Besides, I thought you didn't believe us."

"Well, I did my research," Elena answered, sounding rather proud of herself. "And apparently, Francis Drake didn't have any children."

"Well, history can be wrong, you know." Nate shoved the crowbar in one last time and pried the coffin open. He gestured for me to come help him with the lid. "For example - you can't defile an empty coffin." Together, we pushed the lid off, revealing an empty coffin.

Elena gasped and moved forward to get a better look. "What the hell-?" I looked inside and spotted a small box.

"Well, almost empty," I corrected with a smile, pulling out a small leather diary from the box and handed it to Nate.

"You devil," he chuckled to himself, flipping through the pages.

"What is it?" Elena asked eagerly, trying to get a good view with her camera. "C'mon, hold it up."

"No, no, no - no way," Nate said, covering the lense with his hand. "The deal was for the coffin, that's it."

The blonde frowned. "Wait a minute, if my show hadn't've funded this expedition, you wouldn't've -"

Nate held up his hands in defense. "Hey, hey, you got your story, lady."

"Look Mr. Drake, you signed a contract," Elena snapped. I rolled my eyes and shot Nate an 'I told you so' look. I had specifically warned him against signing a contract. "I have a right to see every single thing that -"

"Whoa, whoa -" I interrupted as my electric blue eyes caught movement. "Hold that thought." I ran to the rail to get a closer look.

"What is it, Alex?" Nate asked, following my gaze. "Oh."

"Merda! (crap)" I swore as my suspicions were confirmed. I pulled the walkie-talkie from my belt. "Sully? We're going to have company. Hurry it up." I hurried over to one of the crates as Nate set down a white case.

"Okay, okay - what's going on?" Elena asked nervously.

"Uh...pirates," Nate replied with a sheepish smile.

"Pirates?!"

"Yeah, the modern kind. They don't take prisoners." Nate opened the case and pulled out a gun. "Least not male prisoners," he added as an afterthought.

"Too bad they're not eighteenth century pirates, I wouldn't mind being kidnapped by Captain Jack Sparrow," I commented with an appreciative smile, causing Nate to roll his eyes.

"This isn't Disney, Alex."

I gave my best friend a deadpan look. "I know it isn't, Nate. If it was, we would have burst into song by now."

Elena looked back and forth between us, still confused. "Wait, what are you talking about?" I pointed to the several pirate ships speeding toward us. Elena backed away nervously. "Uh, sh-shouldn't we call the authorities or something?"

"That would be a great idea if we actually had the permits to be here," I informed her, grabbing the other gun and loading it.

The blonde stared between Nate and I incredulously. "What?"

Nate chuckled nervously. "Yeah, so unless you wanna end up in a Panamanian jail, we should probably handle this ourselves."

Elena glanced anxiously at the rapidly approaching ships then back to us. "Wh-what's worse?"

"You obviously haven't been in a Panamanian jail," Nate remarked, loading his gun.

"Let's just say, it's an experience I'd rather not repeat," I added, suppressing a shudder. I handed the fully loaded gun to Elena. "You know how to use one of these?"

"Yeah, it's like a camera… You just, point and shoot, right?" Elena said, giving me an apprehensive smile.

Nate nodded. "Good girl." He looked back at the pirates and snapped the magazine into his gun. "Here we go."

I drew my own gun from my thigh holster. "Just another day on the job." Honestly, the day we are able to make a major archeological find without getting shot at will be a miracle.

"How'd they find us out here?" Elena asked as we ran for cover.

"These guys have been tailing us for weeks, I thought we lost them," Nate told her, popping his head over his crate to shoot at the pirates.

"Apparently not," I said. I shot a couple of pirates from one boat and shot a barrel on another, causing it to blow up and kill the pirates aboard.

"What did you do to piss them off?" Elena inquired, firing a few rounds.

"Should I answer chronologically or alphabetically?" I inquired, shooting another pirate and immediately ducked as a few bullets zipped over my head.

"These guys don't like you much, do they?"

"Less talking, more shooting!" Nate shouted. He destroyed another boat by hitting an explosive. "Hurry it up, Sully." I spotted some pirate climbing aboard.

"Nate, we've got company!" I warned, shooting the nearest pirate.

"Ah, crap!" Nate fired a couple shots before bolting to another hiding spot. I ran and jumped behind another crate as they fired at us. One pirate tried to sneak up behind me while I was occupied with shooting another. He locked an arm around my throat. I scratched at his arm to try and loosen his grip. Suddenly, he collapsed to the deck, a bullet hole in his back.

"Thanks!" I told Nate and he nodded. An explosion went off to our right, sending us to the deck. "What the heck was that?"

"Oh, my gosh!" Elena gasped. "Drake, that one's got some kind of rocket launcher!"

"Whoa. Okay, that's not good," Nate replied.

"That's a bit of a understatement!" I said, ducking as a nearby crate exploded. In the distance I could hear a rumbling sound that was getting steadily closer.

"What's that?" Elena asked. Nate and I looked up to see a very familiar plane.

"Whooo! All right, Sully!" Nate cheered, as the plane flew close enough to the pirate's boat to send them diving for cover.

"Bout time!" I added with a grin.

"Oh, I don't think I'm getting my security deposit back," Elena muttered, ducking behind a crate.

"Calvary's here," Nate announced.

"Oh, thank God!" Another explosion went off.

"Oh no," Nate groaned. "Ah, crap! Whole ship's gonna blow! We gotta jump!" I hurried to the ship railing and prepared to jump. Elena ran towards me then quickly back tracked. "What are you doing?!" Elena grabbed her camera off a crate and ran back towards me. "Come on! Go!" She jumped over the side, Nate and I followed just as the ship blew. We swam towards where Sully landed his plane.

"I can't leave you two alone for a minute, can I?" Sully laughed, opening the door and sticking his trademark cigar in his mouth.

"I had everything under control until they blew up the boat," Nate insisted, grabbing onto the side of the plane.

Sully looked to me as I floated next to Nate. "I thought I told you to keep him out of trouble."

I shrugged. "There's only so much I can do when trouble seems to follow him everywhere."

"All right, I'll give you that one," Sully chuckled. He pulled a ladder from inside the plane and set it in the door.

"Real funny, guys," Nate grumbled and Sully helped me into the plane. He turned his attention to Elena as she approached, holding her camera safe above the water. "You all right?"

"Nothing that years of therapy won't fix," she replied, surprisingly smiling. Guess she was tougher than she looked.

"Well, if it isn't the beautiful and talented Elena Fisher," Sully flirted as he took Elena's camera and helped her into the plane.

"Flattery will get you screen time," Elena told him with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy," he replied smoothly. "Victor Sullivan." He kissed her hand, causing her to blush slightly. I rolled my eyes and located a towel to dry off.

"Oh, for pete's sake…" Nate muttered at our friend's actions. He climbed into the plane and closed the door. "Waddya say we get out of here before we attract any more attention?"

"Sounds like a plan." With that, we took off.

"I call shotgun!" I shouted, hurrying to the front.

"Oh, come on!" Nate whined. "You got shotgun last time."

I grinned back at my best friend. "That's cause I called it."

"Nuh uh, it's my turn."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, ya big baby."

"Thank you," Nate said, giving me a smug grin. That grin was promptly wiped off his face as I plopped down in his lap. "Hey!"

"What?" I asked innocently. "I'm cold and wet, and you're like a furnace." Nate sighed and rolled his eyes, but wrapped an arm around my waist to secure me as I snuggled further into his lap.

"Now that you two kids are finished bickering, was all of this worthwhile?" Sully questioned.

Nate held up the diary we found in the coffin with a satisfied smile. "A little present from Sir Francis."

Sully laughed. "So you found the coffin?"

"Always the tone of surprise," I sighed in mock disappointment. "After all we've been through, I'd've thought you'd have more faith in us, Sully."

Sully ignored me as he took a closer look at the diary. "Wait a minute - is this what I think it is?"

"Well, that depends," I replied. "If you think it's Drake's long lost diary, then yes, yes it is."

"He faked his death, just like I said, Sully," Nate claimed excitedly. "He must've been onto something big."

"Yeah, well, let's just keep that between us," Sully suggested with a glance at Elena. As if on cue, the blonde reporter turned around in her seat and handed Nate back the gun.

"Thanks for the loan, Mr. Drake. I think I've earned a look at that diary when we land," she said. Sully looked to Nate and I, but Nate just shrugged.


	2. Something Big

**I bring the next chapter! I meant to post this last week, but I forgot and work got really busy. Please read and review!**

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Back on Sully's boat, Nate and I had changed into dry clothes, Nate in his usual tan henley, jeans, and trainers, and I in a blue racerback tank, fitted cargo pants, and my usual knee high brown laced-up boots. Nate was explaining the story of Francis Drake to Sully and I, not that he really needed to explain things to me. I knew just about as much about this stuff as he did thanks to my parents. However, I always enjoyed listening to Nate's extensive knowledge of history, so I usually remained quiet. I loved the excited gleam he got in his eyes whenever he talked about history, especially Francis Drake.

"So look, when Drake sailed into the Pacific he took the Spanish fleet completely by surprise," Nate explained. "He captured their ships, he took all their maps, their letters, their journals, and he recorded everything in this diary."

"Uh huh, so this -" Sully tried, but Nate cut him off.

"But when he got back to England, Queen Elizabeth confiscated all of his charts and logbooks. Including this one." He waved the diary around for emphasis. "And then swore his entire crew to silence."

"Yeah, so this -"

"Y'see, Drake discovered something on that voyage, Sully, something secret, and so valuable, they couldn't risk it getting out."

"All right, Nate," Sully said, finally getting a word in. "Just pretend for a minute that I don't really care about any of that stuff, and cut to the chase, wouldya?"

Nate rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "A man only interested in the climax. You must be a real hit with the ladies."

"Never had any complaints," Sully replied with a sly smile.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Men."

"Okay then, I'll jump to the good part, just for you," Nate conceded. He flipped through the diary till he found the page he wanted and tossed it onto the table in front of Sully. Sully looked at the diary and chuckled, a tone of awe in his voice.

"El goddamn Dorado."

Nate grinned triumphantly. "He was onto something big, all right."

"Does it say anything else?" Sully asked.

"Oh, so now you're interested, huh?" Nate inquired teasingly, snatching the diary away from Sully.

"Yeah."

"Well, unfortunately no. Last page was torn out." Nate held up the diary and sure enough, the last page was missing.

"Of course," I sighed in exasperation. "Cause God forbid something actually be easy for us."

"I'm telling you, Sully, Alex. This is it, this is finally it."

"Yeah… Only, we got one little problem," Sully pointed out, gesturing to Elena who was outside talking to her producer.

"Sully, the girl can hold her own," Nate defended. "You shoulda seen her."

"She's not half bad actually," I agreed. "She knows how to shoot more than just her camera." I had to reluctantly admit, I was rather impressed how Elena handled the pirate situation. Most people would have completely freaked out and have become a liability. Once she got over the initial shock, however, Elena proved to be quite useful.

"Fine, you go on out there and tell her we just found the lost city of gold," Sully told Nate. "Maybe her producer can get it on the air tonight."

"Oh, come on -" Nate protested.

"Nate, do you trust me?"

Nate shrugged, leaning his hands against the table. "More or less."

"Good, cause we're gonna have every two-bit scumbag in the world racing us to this treasure unless we cut her loose right now." I realized he had a point. We already had the pirates trailing us, we didn't need any more trouble, no matter how good she was with a gun.

Nate sighed in resignation. "You're a real gentleman, Sully."

"I know. It stinks. She'll get over it," Sully replied flatly.

"He's got a point, you know," I told Nate.

Nate sighed again, casting a glance out the window at the blonde who was still pacing the dock. "I know." Elena glanced up from her call and gave a small wave. I waved back, lowering my hand to fidget with the silver rings I wore around my neck. She was going to hate us after this, not that I really cared, it's not like we were going to see her again anyway. Sully started the boat and pulled away. I watched as Elena turned and chased the boat down the dock.


	3. The Search Begins

**Hello readers! I bring you the next chapter! Finally a longer chapter and some action! Please enjoy and let me know what you think!**

**P.S. I'm using Google translate for the Italian parts, so I apologize if I got anything wrong.**

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Nate, Sully, and I made our way through the jungle. Behind us, I heard Sully panting lightly in the tropical heat.

"Hold on. Hold on, kids," he huffed, putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. "I'm not as young as I used to be."

"You weren't too old for that little barmaid in Lima, were you?" I teased, wiping the sweat from my forehead.

"Well, that was different," Sully replied with a laugh. "Although I must admit, equally as strenuous." I rolled my eyes with a fond smile.

"Well, hang in there, old timer," Nate chuckled. "We're just about there." We continued walking, climbing over some boulders as we went.

"Y'know, this reminds me, did I ever tell you about the time I pawned a phony 16th Century santo off on Pablo Escobar?"

"Are you serious?" I asked, giving Sully an impressed look.

Sully laughed. "Risky move, I know, but by the time he figured it out I was… Nate, are you even listening to me?"

"Hanging on every word," Nate replied absentmindedly.

"Ah, why waste my breath?" Sully mumbled.

"I was listening," I told him. We continued our way through the dense jungle.

"You really think Francis Drake came all the way up here, huh?" Sully asked. "We're an awful long way from England." Nate didn't respond as he pushed aside a large leaf and stopped.

"Nate?" I questioned, stopping next to him.

Nate looked around in confusion. "I don't get it. According to this, we're right on top of the mark," he said, waving the GPS we were following.

"Maybe you're not reading that thing right," Sully suggested. "Let me see it."

Nate handed the GPS to Sully, still looking around. "No, this is the place."

"There's nothing here, Nate. Another dead end," Sully said in frustration.

"Hold on now," I interrupted. "We're not going to just give up. Let's take a look around." We continued walking, hoping to find any evidence that Sir Francis Drake had been here.

"Oh, man, this is like trying to find a bride in a brothel," Sully complained.

"Only you would even attempt to try that," I told him and Nate chuckled. We reached a clearing were an ancient ruin stood.

"Well, now this is more like it!" Sully commented appreciatively. "What do you think this is, Incan?"

Nate shook his head, inspecting one of the pillars. "Nah, it's older than that. Like two thousand years older." As we searched, Nate proceeded to climb the pillars and jump his way across.

"Careful, Nate," I warned. "Those pillars might not be sturdy." Just as I said this, Nate jumped onto the next pillar and the platform broke underneath him, nearly sending him toppling off the edge. I put my hands on my hips, glaring at my best friend as he righted himself. "What did I just say?"

"Hey, there's something funny about the ground down there," Nate announced, pointing. Sully and I walked over to inspect the area. I stomped on the ground and heard dull thuds.

"It's hollow!" I said excitedly. I glanced around and noticed a large boulder just above me. "Nate, use that boulder to smash through." Nate nodded and climbed over. He grunted as he shoved the rock over the edge. As I predicted, it busted right through the ground, revealing stairs and a doorway.

"Good work, kids!" Sully complimented. We climbed into the hole and into the dark passageway. "I think we're gonna need the flashlights for this one." We turned on our flashlights, immediately upsetting a colony of bats, which flew towards us.

"Whoa!" Nate cried and ducked.

"They're just bats," I told him with an amused smile.

Nate shot me a glare. "You'd scream too if you had a rat with wings fly into your face." I shrugged and we continued into the room below.

"What a warm and homey place," Sully commented dryly and I hummed in agreement.

"Not quite what you were expecting, huh?" Nate chuckled.

"Yeah, where's all the dang gold?"

Nate inspected a pillar. "Ah, this place was picked clean centuries ago."

"No-good limey pirate."

"Uh, I don't think it was Drake," I commented, picking up a tin helmet from the floor and passing it to Sully. "Looks like the Spanish beat him to it." Sully inspected the helmet then threw it to the ground with a frustrated yell, causing me to jump slightly. "Che cavolo! (what the heck)"

"Alex, I'm not looking for a lousy piece of tin!" He yelled. "I'm up to my eyeballs in debt!" He sat down heavily on a fallen column. "I was really countin on this one."

"Too many big bar tabs in Lima, I guess?" Nate said, continuing to inspect a pillar.

Sully chuckled dryly. "That, and well, just a few bad deals." He took off his shoe and shook some rocks out.

"Yeah, well, I always told you to stay away from the bad guys - and the bad girls," Nate reminded him.

"Yeah? Look who's talking," Sully quipped, sending Nate a knowing look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nate demanded.

"Well, you hang out with Alex."

I sent Sully a mock glare. "Hey, I'm not that bad. I keep him out of trouble, don't I?"

Sully laughed. "Sometimes I think you attract as much trouble as he does."

I waved my hand dismissively. "Occupational hazard." I moved towards the next room. "Come on, you two."

"Those Spaniards sure left a lot of crap behind," Sully said. Nate and I approached a gaping hole in the middle of the room. "Careful, that's quite a drop."

"You're not kidding," Nate agreed, peeking over the edge.

"We gotta find a way across." I looked around and spotted an explosive barrel on the other side next to a large pillar. I pulled out my pistol and shot the barrel. Nate and Sully jumped back in surprise as the pillar crashed, creating a bridge. "That'll work," Sully laughed.

"A little warning next time would be appreciated," Nate complained.

"Now where's the fun in that?" I replied, smirking as he glared at me. We climbed across on the makeshift bridge and into the next room, coming to a closed door. Nate began pulling on a nearby chain and the heavy stone door slowly rose, but as soon as he let go, the door slammed close.

"Here, let me do that," Sully offered, taking Nate's place. "I'll hold it open. See if you two can jam it from the other side." Nate and I entered the next room and pushed a wooden cart under the door.

"All right, let go," Nate instructed. "This oughta hold it." Sully let go of the chain and the door dropped onto the cart, which creaked dangerously.

"Hurry, Sully!" I urged. Sully quickly ducked under the stone door just as the cart crumbled under the weight.

Nate sighed in relief. "That was a little too close!"

"Let's hope this place has a back door, huh?" Sully said. We walked further into the room and noticed a large pillar like structure.

"Y'know, this looks familiar," Nate commented, pulling out Drake's journal. He flipped through a few pages until he found what he was looking for. I peered over his shoulder to see a picture of the object in front of us. "Yeah, here it is. Looks like this thing is some kind of lamp, or brazier. See if you can light it."

"So after all your bitching about the cigar, now it comes in handy, huh?" Sully teased as he struck a match and lit the brazier. The flames spread across the ceiling and lit up two lamps hanging above us. The newly acquired light illuminated a bunch of wood blocking our path into the next room. I walked over to inspect it.

"This wood is really dry," I noted. "Should burn quickly." I glanced up at the lamp above me. "Stand back," I warned, pulling out my pistol. I shot the lamp, causing sparks to drop onto the wood and ignite it. The debris crumbled, opening the way.

"Nice!" Sully complimented. In the next room we discovered a huge hole with no visible way down. "Now what?" Nate didn't reply as he launched himself onto a block sticking out of the wall and began climbing his way around. I put my hands on my hips and shook my head. Always leaping into action, that one. "Uh, Nate… I mighta been able to do that thirty years ago." I peered down below me and noticed something carved into the side of the stone, hidden underneath a large fallen pillar.

"Hey, Nate, I think there might be a ladder or something behind this rubble," I told him as he reached the bottom. "Try shooting those barrels."

"Stand back!" Nate warned. Sully and I backed away from the edge as Nate shot the barrel. The explosion shook the chamber and the stone pillar that had been blocking our route collapsed. Sully and I climbed down the ladder and Sully light the brazier in the next room. The door behind us closed and the next one opened. We followed the passageway and it eventually opened into a large chamber. "Ah, now what?"

"Whaddya make of this?" Sully asked, gesturing vaguely to the room. There was a large circular impression in the middle of the room and four strange symbols on the floor with their partners a level above.

I knelt beside one of the strange symbols on the floor. "Nate, do these mean anything to you?"

Nate walked over to stand beside me. "I think I recognize them." He pulled out Drake's journal again. "The order of these signs has some importance." A few minutes later, Nate had solved the puzzle, opening a hole in the floor.

"Pretty deep," Sully remarked.

"Yeah," I agreed. "It's a good thing none of us are scared of heights."

"Looks like there's a ladder cut into the side," Nate said. "Wait here while I check it out."

"Be careful, Nate." He nodded and climbed down the ladder. He disappeared into the side, where I assumed there must have been a side tunnel of some kind. A moment later, water began to pour into the hole, raising the water level. Nate reappeared.

"Aw, don't tell me you're going to swim in that!" Sully said in a disgusted tone.

"I've been in worse!" Nate replied, jumping in.

"Yeah, and you smelled like a sewer for two days after!" I reminded him. Nate ignored me and disappeared once again. As per my habit when I was bored, I played with the rings around my neck.

"I made it!" He called a moment later. "I'm on the other side!"

"Can you get this open?" Sully asked. Another explosion shook the chamber and the stone door in front of us crumbled. "Nice one!"

"Y'know, it's a good thing the Spaniards left all these explosives lying around," I said as Sully and I walked through the makeshift opening. We approached another stone door and the two boys used the chains on either side to open it. There was a wooden walkway spanning a chasm.

"Ah, this looks safe," Nate muttered sarcastically, making to step onto the walkway, but I held his arm.

"Uh, maybe I better do that," I suggested. "I'm lighter than you." Nate didn't look very happy about it, but he nodded anyway. I slowly and cautiously started to make my way across. The walkway began to creak and I felt it shake under my weight. "Whoa - uh-oh…" The walkway began to crumble.

"Alex, get out of there now!" Sully shouted. I didn't need to be told twice. I bolted across the rapidly crumbling walkway. I had to jump several times as the platforms broke in front of me. I reached the end and jumped, landing safely on the other side with a grunt. Coughing from the dust, I sat up to see the boys making their way towards me across the new pathway created by stone pillars that had fallen behind me.

"You okay?" Nate asked in concern as they reached me. I let out a few choice Italian curses in answer.

Sully chuckled. "She's okay." Sully and Nate were both long used to my habit of slipping into my mother's native language when I was angry or upset. Nate held out his hand and helped me to my up, pressing a quick kiss to my head, which had its usual calming effect.

"Now it looks like we're getting somewhere," Sully said happily as we climbed some stairs.

"After that, we better be," I muttered. We entered yet another room and shone our flashlights around.

"Oh, man…" Sully commented, noticing a recess in a nearby wall.

"The temple must have been built around this," Nate said.

"Around what?"

"A statue…" He knelt down and examined the dirt. "A gold statue."

"A huge gold statue," I added, looking at the size of the recess.

"And look here… these people - they're worshiping the damn thing," Sully said, looking at some carvings on the wall. "At least, I think they're people."

"Of course," Nate gasped. "El Dorado - the Golden Man! Sully, Alex, it wasn't a city, it was this. It was a golden idol."

Sully looked at the place where the statue once stood. "Man, can you imagine what that thing would be worth now?" I suddenly noticed some tracks on the floor.

"Hey, look here," I called, indicating the scrape marks. "Tracks."

"I bet the Spanish dragged it out on cut logs," Nate mused, inspecting the tracks. "Huh...we're four hundred years late for this party."

"So the trail's cold?" Sully questioned.

Nate nodded. "Yeah, it looks that way."

"Sonofabitch!" Sully cursed angrily.

I rolled my eyes at the two. "Really, guys? You don't have to be seasoned treasure hunters to follow the tracks the statue made," I said, gesturing to the very obvious scrapes in the floor. "Why don't we see where these lead first." The two men trailed after me as I followed the tracks through the temple, stopping at a large hole in the wall.

"Huh. They stop here," Nate remarked.

"Yeah, it looks like the back wall of the temple was blown out," Sully said.

"Guess the Spaniards decided to make themselves a shortcut," I added, looking at all the rubble lying around.

"Swell, now what?" We exited the temple and followed a narrow path through the jungle. Nate suddenly stopped almost making me run into him.

"Wait - Alex, Sully, so you hear that?" Nate asked. I listened and the sound of rushing water reached my ears. We followed the sound and stopped dead at the sight before us. "Now there's something you don't see every day."

"My God!" Sully gasped as he spotted the large, rusted out submarine nestled above a waterfall. We climbed the rocks to get a better view.

"Whoa."

"I'll be damned."

"How on earth did that get there?" I wondered out loud.

"Must've come up the river during flood season and gotten stuck," Nate answered. "Let's check it out, huh?"

"Nah… Wait, wait, wait," Sully hesitated. "Something about this feels kinda hinky."

Nate raised a brow. "Hinky?"

"Sully, we specialize in hinky," I pointed out. "Besides, you act like you've never seen a German U-boat in the middle of the jungle before."

"No, I'm being serious, you two," Sully insisted, a serious look on his face. Nate merely laughed at our friend's nervousness.

"Tell you what… Why don't you stay here, Alex and I will check it out ourselves. We'll call you if we run into any Nazis."

"Yeah right, you do that," Sully replied flatly.

Nate turned to leave, paused and turned back to Sully, taking Drake's journal from his pocket. "Hold onto this for me, will ya?" We stopped at the edge of the water, analysing the possible routes.

I kneeled next to the water and swished my hand through it, checking the temperature. "Guess we're going swimming."

"Ladies first!" That was the only warning I got before I was shoved head first into the water. I came up spluttering to Nate doubled over laughing.

"Nathan Drake!" I shouted angrily at him. I spotted Sully trying to hold back his laughter and pointed a finger at him. "Don't encourage him!"

"Sorry, Alex, but I couldn't resist the opportunity," Nate apologized, wiping tears from his eyes.

I glared at him. "Well I'm glad I could be here for your amusement. Now get down here before I pull you in." I narrowed my eyes as a mischievous glint came into his eyes. "No, no. Don't you dare!"

"Look out below!" Nate shouted and did a cannonball into the water, dousing me again.

"I'm going to get you for that," I growled as he came up.

Nate grinned. "Worry about your revenge later. We've got a U-boat to explore." He swam off and I had no choice but to follow.

"_Looks like you're gonna have to monkey across those cliffs to get into the U-boat,_" Sully told us over the walkie-talkie.

I looked up at the cliffs and sighed. "Oh goody, more climbing."

"It's all part of the experience," Nate said, hands on his hips as he studied the cliffs for handholds.

"I suppose so." I ran to the cliffs and jumped, grabbing onto the first hand hold. I glanced down at Nate with a sly grin. "Try to keep up then." I clambered up the cliffs, shimmying my way across.

"_You should be able to drop right down into the U-boat from there_," Sully informed us. We dropped onto the U-boat and headed for the entrance. "Nate, when was your last tetanus shot?"

"Oh, that's funny!" Nate replied, unamused. He climbed down the circular hole and helped me down. "Okay, we're in." I grimaced at the sight we found inside.

"_Whaddya see?_" Sully asked.

"Something nasty happened to these guys. There's blood everywhere. And soup."

"_What?!_" We made our way through the U-boat until we came across a corpse.

I wrinkled my nose at the sight. "Eugh." Nate bent down and moved the corpse. As he did so, several coins spilled onto the floor. Nate picked one up.

"Huh. Now where did you get this, my decomposing friend?" He asked, examining the coin. He passed one of the coins to me. "Have you seen this stamp?"

"No," I replied, turning the coin in my fingers.

"I think the trail just got warm again," he told Sully.

"_How so?_"

"Well, we just me a guy with pockets full of Spanish gold, only the coins are stamped with a mint mark I've never seen before."

"_You're kidding me._"

"Guess our German friends had a little secret," I said. We moved through a flooded section and up a ladder. We entered a section that looked slightly nicer than the rest of the boat. Nate moved the curtains to the bed, revealing the captain.

"We're in the Captain's quarters," Nate told Sully. "And get this - he's still here."

"_What's that supposed to mean?_"

"Ah - looks like he was killed… ripped to shreds, actually." Nate made a noise somewhere between sympathy and disgust. "What a way to go."

"_Sounds terrible. Check his wallet._"

"You're all heart, Sully," Nate chuckled and I huffed a laugh through my nose. Something in the captain's hand caught my eye. Reaching forward, I tugged the object, which turned out to be a piece of paper from the captain's hand, breaking his fingers in the process. I unfolded the paper and my eyes widened in surprise. It appeared to the missing page from Drake's journal.

"Nate, look at this," I called, spreading out the old map on a table.

"No way," Nate gasped. He looked between the old map I found to another map already on the table. "You've got to be kidding…" He picked up the map and walked over to a third map on the wall.

"_Find anything, kids?_" Sully inquired. Nate ignored him and closely examined the map.

"UK2642… U-K… U-K… UK2642… Gotcha!" He tapped a spot on the map in triumph.

"_Are you all right?_" Sully asked in concern.

"Sully, you're not going to believe this."

"_Try me._"

"I think Alex and I just found our missing page."

"_You're kidding._"

"It looks like Drake and our German pals were after the same treasure. And I've got the map that's gonna lead us right to it," Nate said excitedly.

"_Nate, this better not be another wild-goose chase. We've got to get something out of this trip or -_" I looked up from examining the maps as Sully's voice suddenly cut off.

"Or what?" Nate asked. No reply. "Sully… you there? Sullivan?"

"We need to go," I said, suddenly very worried for our friend. In this jungle, there's no knowing what sort of trouble was out there. We made our way back out, accidentally knocking one of the torpedoes from its holdings. We swam our way out and were met by an older man kneeling by the water.

"Hello," the man greeted. He held out his hand to help us up, but we ignored it. Another man with an AK-47 approached as we climbed out, grabbing Nate's arm and pulling him out then turning and 'helping' me.

"Hey, hey -" Nate protested as the man relieved us of our guns.

"Friends of yours, Sully?" I inquired, glaring at the men. Luckily, they didn't relieve me of the knife I kept on my belt, not that it would do me any good against the guns aimed at us. If I had learned anything in all my years of treasure hunting with Nate, it was 'never bring a knife to a gun fight'.

"I'm Gabriel Roman," the older man introduced casually, as if we didn't have several guns pointed at us.

"Yeah, we know who you are, asshole," Nate replied and I had to suppress a smirk.

Roman didn't seem at all bothered by Nate's comment. "Manners, young man. This is just business."

"Doesn't feel like 'just business'," I muttered, eyeing the guns pointed at me and my friends. The other man with the AK-47 approached.

"Get over there," he ordered, pushing us toward Sully.

"Easy!" Nate snapped, glaring at the man.

"Put your hands up." Nate and I raised our hands.

"All right, they're up."

"See, your friend owes me money, Mr. Drake, Miss King," Roman continued casually. "A lot of money. So when he told me that you three were onto something big - 'the find of a lifetime,' he said. Well, I was intrigued. But he's made grand promises before. Haven't you, Victor?" He moved to stand in front of Sully. "And here we are again. Another fool's errand."

"Sheesh, does he always go on like this?" Nate quipped. Mr. AK-47 slammed the butt of his gun into Nate's leg, causing him to groan in pain.

I moved to attack him, but was grabbed by a couple more guys and held tightly. "Pagherai per quello, stronzo! (you'll pay for that, asshole)" I growled, struggling in the mercenary's grip, but I was ignored. I actually think I heard one or two chuckle at my futile struggles.

"Take it easy, Navarro," Roman said, almost sounding bored. "So, I'm afraid the time is up. Unless of course you found something in there, Mr. Drake -" He glanced back at the U-boat. "- that might compensate for all this unpleasantness?"

"He's screwing with you two, Nate," Sully said. "They heard everything. Just give 'em the map." Nate reached for his back pocket, causing Navarro to point his gun at him.

"Slowly," Navarro warned. Nate took the German map from his pocket and Navarro grabbed it. "What does a Kriegsmarine map have to do with El Dorado?" He passed the map to Roman.

"What, you think this is a coincidence?" Sully demanded. "The Germans were after the same treasure - that map has something to do with it." Roman looked up from examining the map. "So, we square?"

"For now. But in case you need a reminder…" Roman pointed his gun at Nate and I.

"Hey, come on, leave them out of it."

"Yeah, don't you guys usually just cut off a finger or something?" Nate asked, chuckling nervously as he moved slightly in front of me.

Roman smiled sinisterly. "That's far too vulgar. No, I think this will hurt them a bit more."

"Now whoa, whoa, whoa - C'mon, Roman, they've got nothing to do with -" In a flash, Roman switched targets and shot Sully.

"No!" I screamed, struggling harder against the mercenaries holding me.

"Sully! Sully!" Nate shouted. In a rage, he charged at Navarro, wrestling with the mercenary in his attempt to get to Roman. Suddenly, an explosion sounded from the U-boat, throwing us all to the ground. I shook my head to get rid of the dizziness and got to my feet.

"Nate, we have to go," I urged, tugging my friend to his feet. He looked back at Sully's body helplessly. I was fighting my own tears, but I knew we couldn't stay here. "There's nothing we can do for him. We have to go, now!" I tugged him along, hearing Roman yelling at his men. We bolted back through the jungle, dodging gun fire. We hid behind a pillar, breathing hard. Before we could even begin to process what had just happened, Nate was suddenly dragged out. I unsheathed my knife and jumped out after him, but paused when I saw Elena. How the heck did she find us?

"Whoa there, cowboy!" She told Nate who had also readied himself for a fight.

"Oh," he muttered, lowering his fist. He should have kept his arm up as Elena took the opportunity to punch him.

"That's for leaving me at the dock!" Elena shouted angrily, shaking her hand.

Nate held his cheek, rounding on her angrily. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Elena glowered at him, pointing a finger threateningly. "Listen, I'm a good enough reporter to follow three no-luck tomb robbers!"

"Hide!" I hissed, pressing myself against the pillar. Nate pressed himself against Elena and shushed her. Two of Roman's men ran by, shouting to each other. I let out a sigh of relief once they passed. "We're good." I turned back to the blonde, my expression downcast. "Unfortunately, you're down to two tomb robbers, now. Sully's-" I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. "Sully's dead."

Elena blinked in shock. "What?"

"Yeah, and we're next if we don't get outta here."

Elena's gaze softened. "Oh God… I'm sorry."

"Please tell me you have a gun," Nate said.

"Of course." Elena pulled a gun from her belt and passed it to Nate who promptly passed it to me.

"It's better she's the one with the gun, trust me," Nate explained when Elena sent him a questioning look.

I racked the slide slightly, checking to make sure a round was chambered. "Let's go." We fought our way back through the temple, picking up extra ammo and guns as we went.

"You two always been this popular?" Elena asked jokingly as we finally reached the jeep she had hidden.

"Well, we do seem to attract the scum of the earth," Nate quipped. "Ah - no offense."

"None taken." Nate climbed into the driver's seat and I into the passenger while Elena climbed into the back.

"Alex, you remember the coordinates from the u-boat, right?"

I nodded. "Course, UK2642."

"What significance does UK2642 have?" Elena inquired.

Nate pulled the missing journal page from his pocket and handed it to me. "It's Kriegsmarine coordinates. I think I know where the Spanish took El Dorado."

"El Dorado?" Elena questioned.

"Huge golden statue," I supplied.

"The problem is, so do the bastards who killed Sully. Damn it!" Nate growled as he tried and failed to start the jeep. "If the Spanish found the treasure, they had to've moved it there, to that island."

"And Drake followed them," I finished.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Elena said excitedly. "I'll get the story, and you two get… whatever it is you're after."

Nate turned the ignition again. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon." Finally, the jeep roared to life and Nate grinned. "Yeah, haha!"

"C'mon," Elena urged.

I turned to her, a serious look on my face. "Hey, if you hadn't already noticed, this isn't going to be a vacation."

"I can take care of myself," she assured me, sounding a bit offended. "Besides, you two owe me one."

Nate glanced at me and chuckled. "I suppose we do." He put the jeep in gear and drove back the way we had come in.


	4. Welcome to the Jungle

**Hello dear readers! I present the next chapter! Hope you guys like it. Till next time!**

* * *

I looked out the window at the ocean, once again fiddling with my rings as we flew towards the island in Sully's plane. Behind Nate and I, Elena was filming more for her show.

"We're on the trail of the lost treasure of El Dorado, and it's brought us here, to this tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."

"Let's get a closer look… and hope we're the first ones here," Nate said.

"Will we discover the ruins of a forgotten colony and a fortune in Spanish gold? Or does the island have a darker secrets in store for us?" Elena finished. "That should keep 'em from changing the channel." The plane suddenly shook as we were hit. "Whoa! What the heck was that?!" I glanced out the window again to see missiles heading straight for us.

"Che cavolo! Since when does a tiny island have anti-aircraft fire?!" I cried, holding onto the side as the plane rocked from the explosions.

"This is so not cool!" Nate agreed. Another missile hit us, catching one of our engines on fire.

"Oh, crap! We're on fire!" Elena shouted, once again filming.

"Now's not the time to be filming!" I yelled at her. "We need to bail out!"

Elena stared at me in shock. "Bail out? Does this thing even have parachutes?!"

"We're about to find out!" I clumsily climbed to the back of the plane and frantically searched Sully's junk. Grinning briefly in triumph, I pulled out three parachutes.. I passed one to Elena and set another beside Nate before putting on mine.

"Have either of you done this before?!" Elena asked.

"Of course," Nate replied, but I knew full well he hadn't. "You just jump, count to five, and pull the cord! Now go!"

"Are you coming?!"

"Kind busy right now! Get going!" Elena stumbled her way to the door.

"See you on the ground?"

"Right behind ya!" Elena gave him a skeptical look, but jumped, screaming on her way down. Another explosion shook the plane.

"Nate, we have to go, now!" I shouted.

"Just go!" He yelled back. "I'll be right behind you!"

"You'd better be because I'll kill you if you die!" With that, I jumped, quickly pulling the cord. I floated towards the ground. An explosion caused me to look up. A piece of the plane sailed straight through my parachute. I let out a shout of surprise as my decent pace quickened. "Oh merda (crap)!" I did my best to steer away from the rapidly approaching trees, but it was no use. I landed with an 'oof' and everything went black.

I woke up sometime later with a quiet groan. Opening my eyes, I immediately frowned in confusion. Why was everything upside down? I looked down, or up, to discover my parachute had gotten caught in a tree and I was currently tangled in it, dangling upside down. I attempted to untangle the rope from my leg with little success. I let myself drop back with a huff of frustration. I suddenly remembered the knife I always kept on me and reached to get it only to find it missing.

"No, no, no!" I muttered in a panic, looking around. I spotted the knife a few feet away where it had embedded itself in the ground. I groaned. "Ah, great! Now what?" I felt my gun holster and sighed in relief as I felt the handle of my pistol. I looked back at the tree that was holding me captive. Maybe I could shoot the branch? I dismissed that idea, the branch way too thick. I froze as I heard a twig snap and I quickly took out my pistol, ready for a fight. Just as I was about ready to pull the trigger, a familiar face came through the trees. "Nate!" I gasped.

"Alex!" Nate grinned in relief, rushing over to me. "Thank God you're alive!"

I smiled. "After all we've been through, I'm not going to die after jumping from a burning plane." Nate chuckled. "Hey, uh, do you think you could get me down? I kinda dropped my knife."

Nate nodded. "Sure, where is it?" I pointed to my knife and he grabbed it. "I think I can climb the tree and cut you down from there." I nodded and he started the climb. He positioned himself on the branch and prepared to cut the rope. "Okay, ready?"

"Yeah." Nate sawed at the rope and the strands snapped one by one. "Take it easy. Let me down -" He cut the last rope and I fell to the ground and all the air was knocked from my lungs. "Ugh!... Gently."

"Sorry!" Nate called from above me.

"S'okay," I coughed. Nate climbed down and helped me to my feet, looking me over for any injuries. "I'm fine, Nate," I assured him. I grimaced slightly as I rolled my ankle, causing Nate to place a hand on my arm, eyeing me in concern. I chuckled lightly, patting his hand. "I said I'm fine, you worry wort." I glanced around and noticed something, or rather, someone was missing. "Where's Elena?"

"Haven't found her yet."

"Well, I suppose we should get going," I said. "There's no telling what sort of trouble she could get into."

"We need to make a stop by the crash though."

"What for?"

Nate scratched the back of his neck. "I uh… I left the map on the plane."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Of course you did." Nate gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, come on then, let's go get the map and find Elena." We made our way through the jungle, stopping by the plane crash on the way. Nate had spotted Elena's parachute in a huge fortress. We cautiously made our way through the fortress, taking shelter every so often as we were shot at. We found the remains of Elena's parachute hanging from to ruins of a tower.

"No sign of her… that's either very good, or very bad," Nate mused.

"Hopefully the former," I commented. I noticed a zipline and nudged Nate. "She probably took that."

"C'mon." I followed Nate down the zipline, barreling into him as I landed.

"Sorry."

"Elena. What the hell's she doing?" He wondered aloud. I looked out the window and noticed our lost reporter across the fortress. She hurried off, completely unaware of us on the other side. I spotted a barred iron gate across the courtyard.

"We need to get through that," I told Nate.

"_Ha-low?_" The guard on the other side of the gate called through a microphone on the table in front of us. Nate glanced at me and I gestured to the microphone in a 'go on then' motion.

"Buka pintu," he said hesitantly.

"_Siapa ini? Bicara sekarang!_"

Nate scratched the back of his head in frustration as he tried to remember Indonesian. "Ah crap. Sialan lo! Cepatan, buka pintu!"

The guard noticed us. "_Ah, tai!_" He disappeared for a moment and the gate opened.

Nate laughed in delight. "It worked." Four armed guards ran through the gate. "Oh, boy."

"Spoke too soon," I muttered, pulling out my pistol. We eliminated all the guards only to be met with a machine gun turret as we ran through the open gate.

"How do I always get myself into the crap?" Nate groaned.

"That's what I'm for," I told him. I quickly poked my head out from behind my cover and shot at the barrels next to the turret. The barrels exploded, shaking the tunnel and showering Nate and I in dust. I moved out from behind my cover and continued on. "I'm here to get you out of the crap you get yourself into. Come on."

As we moved through the fortress, it seemed that there was a mercenary around every corner. Along the way, we found several clues left behind by Drake, eventually leading us to the top of a tower. Nate spotted a spyglass on a nearby table and picked it up.

"This must've been Drake's…" He murmured to himself. He walked out onto the balcony. "So what were you looking for, hm?" He looked through the spyglass, pointing it at an orange-domed building. "Well now, that looks familiar… Huh."

"What is it?" I inquired.

"The ships never left."

I frowned. "Strange. I wonder why."

"Elena!" Nate suddenly gasped. I followed his gaze and spotted our missing reporter.

"Hey, there she is." Nate and I both looked down and noticed two guards, one holding a rocket launcher. Before I could move, Nate pulled out his gun and fired at one of the guards. Unfortunately, it was not the one holding the rocket launcher. Nate seemed to realize his mistake as the guard spun around.

"Oh, crap." The guard fired the grenade launcher at the balcony and the world went black.

I woke with a groan. Slowly, I opened my eyes and sat up, wincing slightly. Looking around, I found myself in a cell. I spotted Nate lying a few feet away, still unconscious.

I scrambled over to him and turned him onto his back. "Nate! Nate!" I called, patting his cheek lightly. He groaned, furrowing his brows and opening his eyes. I let out a sigh of relief. "You okay?"

"I think so," he replied, sitting up.

"Good." I promptly smacked him upside the head.

"Ouch!" He yelped, rubbing the back of his head. "What was that for?!"

"For not hitting the guy with the rocket launcher first, idiota!" Nate gave me a sheepish look. A pebble suddenly came flying in. Nate and I stared at it for a moment, glanced at each other in confusion, then towards the direction the pebble came from. Looking through the barred window, was Elena.

"I know I'm not a big-time treasure hunter like you two, but I doubt you're gonna find El Dorado in there," the blonde said, smiling. "How'd you get yourselves in this mess?"

"Trying to rescue you, as a matter of fact," Nate replied, getting to his feet.

"Oh, that's so sweet," Elena teased. She examined the wall closely. "Traditional sandstone brick and stucco… limestone mortar… huh."

"Impressive," I complimented.

"How'd you get to know so much about this?" Nate asked curiously.

"My show - episode 4, 'Architects of the New World," Elena answered proudly. I hummed in interest. I might need to check out her show when we get home. She pulled at the bars experimentally. "Yup, it'll just take a tug to pull these bars out." She wandered off.

Nate gripped the bars, staring worriedly after her. "What? No, wait… are you sure -" He was cut off by a voice outside the wooden door of the room we were in.

"Get out of my way, bodoh!"

"Oh, crap," Nate muttered, moving to stand next to me. The door was kicked in and a short man waltzed in.

"Hey, Drake," the man greeted, grinning smugly.

"Eddy Raja. I shoulda guessed," Nate said, returning with a fake smile.

Eddy turned to me, sending me a flirtatious smile that made me want to gag. "So this is Alexandria King. I must say, you're more beautiful than I imagined."

I crossed my arms and cocked my head, ignoring Nate as he protectively shifted his weight towards me and considering the tiny Indonesian. "And I was under the impression that Hobbits hardly left the Shire," I quipped. Eddy sneered at me and I sent him an innocent smile.

"Fascinating document, huh?" He said, holding up the old map we had recovered from the plane. "Seems like this 'Sir Francis' was in my line of work."

"Don't flatter yourself, Eddy," Nate told him.

Eddy chuckled. "Always ready to be enemies, eh?" He sat on a wooden table, pulling out his trademark golden pistol as a nonverbal threat. "Tell you what - lead me to the gold, and I might just let you live."

"Is that it? Is that our deal? Die now, or help you, and die later. It's a tough call, but you know what? We'll take die now." I closed my eyes briefly and pinched the bridge of my nose. Nate normally had smartass comments, but put him in a life or death situation and that's all vocabulary seemed to consist of, not that I was much better. Unsurprisingly, this response didn't sit well with Eddy.

"Tai kamu!" Eddy growled, getting close to the bars and waving his gun at us angrily. "Listen to me, maggot - I was promised treasure on this goddamn rock! And now my men are dying. They can't even go outside to take a piss without an armed guard, and I have nothing to show for it!" He turned away, fuming, looking much like a toddler in the middle of a temper tantrum. I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Elena was hanging a hook around the bars of our window. Nate turned to look, but I subtly jabbed my elbow into his side and he turned his attention back to Eddy. "I am making you a fair offer. You help me find the treasure, and the last man alive gets the gold… and the girls, of course."

Nate gave him a look of mock pity. "The girls? Oh, Eddy, the other girl's long gone. She's probably off the island by now, going for help. And this girl -" he gestured to me. "- she -"

"Would sooner throw you off a cliff," I interrupted, glaring daggers at the Indonesian. "Although a two foot ledge would probably be high enough." Eddy was silent for a moment then smiled at Nate. ignoring my jab at his lack of height.

"Tai Kucing - you were never very good at poker. I will find the other girl, trust me," Eddy vowed. "How much trouble could one girl be?" On cue, the wall behind us was ripped out. I ducked to avoid the falling rubble and Nate covered me with his own body. The three of us slowly stood to see Elena in a jeep.

"Well?! Come on!" Elena urged. I quickly snatched the map from Eddy with a 'thank you' and ran for the jeep, Nate close behind.

"Nice work!" Nate complimented.

Elena grinned. "Thanks." I climbed into the passenger seat and Nate climbed in the back behind the mounted machine gun. "Hold on!" She drove off as Eddy came running out, shouting at his men to go after us.

I breathed a sigh of relief as we landed safely on the other side of the bridge, hopefully out of reach from Eddy's men, at least for now.

"I can't believe that worked!" Nate exclaimed.

"So who was that guy?" Elena asked as we drove on.

"Just an old business asso - OH LOOK OUT!" Elena slammed on the brakes and the jeep spun to a stop, throwing Nate out the back. The back end of the jeep teetered dangerously on the edge of the cliff.

"Nate!" I screamed. "Hold on! Grab my hand!" He grabbed my outstretched hand and I pulled him back in.

"You two okay?" Nate asked as he climbed into the driver's seat, Elena moving out of his way. I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine - oh but, you're bleeding," Elena told him in concern.

"Goes with the territory," Nate dismissed, starting the jeep. He attempted to drive off, but the rear tires couldn't get any traction. He stopped trying as we heard clapping and looked up to see Eddy with some of his men.

"Going somewhere?" Eddy inquired, a smug smile on his face as he swung a shotgun on his shoulder.

Nate grinned nervously. "Hey, Eddy!"

"Did you really think you could escape from moi?"

"No, no - just giving the young ladies the ten dollar tour," Nate quipped.

Eddy glared at him. "Shut it! I bet you're working for them too!"

Nate frowned in confusion. "What?" He glanced at me, but I shrugged, equally as confused.

"You thought you could set me up and keep everything for yourselves, hm?" Eddy aimed his shotgun at us.

"Get down!" Nate shouted. Elena and I didn't need to be told twice. The three of us ducked as Eddy fired, shattering the windshield.

"This guy's crazy!" Elena exclaimed.

Nate slowly poked his head back up. "Eddy, take it easy, buddy."

Eddy laughed. "Well, you're out of luck now. And out of road." He cocked the shotgun threateningly. "Now, give me that map."

"Hold on," Nate whispered to Elena and I. I quickly grabbed hold of the seat, not entirely sure what he was planning, but able to hazard a guess. "All right, you got me, fair and square." He reached down towards the gear shift, not that Eddy could see that.

"Hey, don't move!" Eddy warned.

"Relax, Eddy. I'm just getting the map, like you asked." Nate glanced at Elena. "I said hold on."

"I am," Elena insisted, gripping her seat.

"Well, hand it over," Eddy ordered.

Nate smirked. "Well now, you told me not to move. Looks like you're gonna have to come get it."

Eddy snarled. "Tai kamu!" He walked towards us, his gun at the ready. However, before he could reach us, Nate threw the jeep in reverse and backed us over the cliff.


	5. Out of the Frying Pan

**Hey, I'm back! Sorry this took so long to upload. I meant to upload it earlier, but forgot and then work got crazy and I haven't had time to get on my computer. I also just spent the last half hour rewriting a couple sections of this story cause I didn't like how it sounded. Anyway, at least this chapter's longer right? Btw, as a reminder, the Italian bits are mostly from google translate, others are from phrases I looked up. Please read and enjoy!**

After pulling ourselves out of the water and taking out the mercenaries, Nate opened a small gate leading to the rest of the city. A small platform jutted out into the water, two jet skis floating next to it.

"This was a big mistake," Nate announced.

"Whatever gave you that impression?" I inquired sarcastically, sitting down on a fallen pillar and smacking the side of my head to rid my ears of water.

Elena laughed. "No kidding. Y'know, I should've turned before the bridge."

Nate didn't seem impressed. "That's very funny."

"Oh, c'mere a minute - I wanna show you something," Elena said, sitting down and holding up her camera. I walked over, surprised that the camera was still operational.

"That thing still works?" Nate asked, voicing my thoughts.

Elena nodded proudly. "Uh-huh. Check this out." On screen was the orange-domed building Nate and I saw earlier. "Okay, see this building in the harbor? That's where all the boats coming into the colony would've unloaded their cargo. So if the El Dorado treasure came to this island, it would've had to've come through here."

"Wait a minute. What - what was that?" Nate suddenly asked.

"What?"

"Rewind it." Elena rewound the video, looking at Nate quisically. "Wait - stop." The footage replayed. "Right there." Nate pointed to a boat in the harbor, more specifically, a speedboat. "That's our ticket outta here." I smiled. Good, I was ready to get off this island.

Elena frowned in confusion. "Our ticket outta here? Are you giving up?"

"Maybe you hadn't noticed, but we're kind of outnumbered."

"We're doing fine so far…"

"Yes, but we've already had two close calls and need I remind you, Nate and I have already lost Sully," I told her. Elena's gaze softened. "Neither one of us needs your bullet-riddled corpse on our conscience."

Elena frowned again, this time in frustration. "Oh, please, you quit if you want to, but don't use me as an excuse."

"Fine. It's us, okay? We are quitting," Nate admitted in exasperation. "Are you coming or not?"

"So that's it? You're both just gonna forget about the treasure, and forget about Drake?" I glanced at Nate. Elena did have a point. I knew that Nate spent most of his life learning all he could about Sir Francis, me having helped with a good portion of it. The question was, how far was he willing to go?

Nate rounded on Elena, his jaw clenched. "Goddamn it, this is not worth dying over." Elena was quiet for a moment, then nodded solemnly.

"Okay. Okay," she conceded. "Listen either way we have to head back to the harbor." She grinned and smacked his arm. "Don't worry about it. We can argue about it later. It'll be great." Nate and I shared a look as she walked towards the jet skies. Elena was turning out to be more of a trouble maker than either one of has had thought possible.

I followed Elena towards the jetski. "You're driving," I told Nate.

We sped through the flooded city. As I was the only one not driving a jet ski, I was in charge of shooting the explosive barrels that Eddy's men were dumping into the water. And if it wasn't bad enough we had to avoid explosives, mercenaries were constantly shooting at us. Elena made sure to stay behind Nate and I as I took out the men one by one.

"It seems like Eddy brought an entire army of mercenaries with him," I grumbled, shooting yet another bad guy and causing him to tumble into the water below.

"Eddy was never one for subtly," Nate said, driving up a waterfall to the next part of the city. "Hold on!" I gripped his waist tightly as we drove over a ramp, finally making it to the harbor.

"There it is!" Elena announced.

"Yeah, now we just gotta find a way in."

"Y'know, I read a story once about a cursed Inca treasure… you don't suppose that -"

"Please don't tell me you believe in that stuff," Nate interrupted.

"I'm just saying… something bad happened here. A whole colony doesn't just up and vanish," Elena reasoned.

Nate chuckled. "Yeah."

Elena shot him a glare. "Well, how do you explain it?"

"I'm sure there is a logical explanation," I assured her. "Though I do admit, it seems highly suspicious." We docked the jet skies. "Looks like that cable would get us up there," I said, pointing to a cable running from the top of a nearby building.

"Let's go check it out," Nate said.

"I'll stay here and keep an eye on our rides," Elena told us, "See if you two can figure a way to get us to that tower."

Nate and I rounded a corner only to be met with gunshots.

"Merda!" I cursed as I dove for cover. "Seriously? Don't these guys ever give up?!"

"Nah, this is what these guys are paid to do," Nate replied, firing blindly from behind his cover.

"Well, if they're paid to be a nuisance, they do their job very well." We took out the rest of the guys and moved on. Nate climbed across some platforms and disappeared around a corner.

"I got the gate open!" Nate called. "Go get Elena."

"Back in a jiffy." I ran back the way we had come. "Nate's got the gate open, follow me," I told Elena, hopping onto my jetski. I pulled under the platform Nate was on and he jumped down once I moved out of the way. No sooner were we through the gates and we were getting shot at. "Oh, porca miseria! (oh, for goodness sake)" I exclaimed. I began shooting. "Vai al diavolo, bastardi! (go to hell, bastards)"

"What did she say?" I heard Elena ask.

"You probably don't want to know," Nate replied, driving on as I cleared the area of mercenaries and explosive barrels. We stopped in front of a gate. "I don't see any lever." I looked up and noticed a couple counterweights holding the gate. I shot the chains holding the counterweights and the gate slid down.

Nate grinned. "Nice!"

I blew imaginary smoke off the end of the gun's barrel. "Who needs levers when you have a gun?" We drove through and Nate climbed off.

I moved into the driver's seat. "Head for the tower. Elena and I will meet you at the customs house. Oh, and take this." I passed him a grenade I had picked up earlier. "Try not to blow yourself up." With that, I drove off, Elena close behind me.

Elena and I waited by the customs house door, me messing with the rings around absentmindedly. I glanced up and noticed Nate sliding down the zipline and into the customs house. He opened the door and let us in a moment later. We wandered around, eventually coming upon an old library. Elena pulled out her camera to film.

"Wow… These must be all the old ship manifests," Nate said, looking around. I picked up a random book and examined it.

"Still seem to be in good shape," I noted, impressed. Nate wandered over to the desk.

"Hey, check this out - this looks right," he called. I put the book back and stood next to him. He was looking at an open book on the table. "The Esperanza. Sailed from Callao, Peru. Carrying 800 bars of gold, 1200 silver. Emeralds… golden masks, ornaments…" I whistled appreciatively.

"Whoa, reading 16th-century Spanish," Elena commented, looking over his shoulder. "Not just a grave robber after all, huh?" I gave her a sideways glance and continued reading.

"Right here," I said, pointing to a section. "Gold statue, weight: 20 arrobas."

"That's over five hundred pounds," Nate calculated, grinning at me. "That's gotta be it." He turned the next, revealing a picture of El Dorado. "Wow… There you are…"

Elena shivered involuntarily. "That thing kind gives me the creeps." I hummed in agreement. Nate turned the page again, but it was blank.

"Huh. That's the last entry…" Nate started fiddling with the ring around his neck, a habit he picked up from me.

"That somebody special?" Elena inquired, noticing Nate's movements.

Nate blinked in confusion. "What?" Elena nodded to the ring. "Oh, yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Huh. I had you pegged as more of a woman-in-every-port kind of guy." I tensed ever so slightly as Nate laughed.

"Don't I wish. Alex intimidates most of the women I meet though. No, this was ah… this was Francis Drake's ring." I tuned out the rest of the conversation. I knew the story of the ring well, having been with Nate the day he acquired it. I always felt that Francis Drake's motto, 'Sic parvis magna' or 'Greatness from small beginnings' suited Nate. I walked away from my companions, Elena now standing way too close to Nate for my liking as she examined his most treasured possession. Nate has been my best friend practically from the moment I met him. We grew close, nigh on inseparable and I quickly developed a crush on him. Once we reached our teenage years, Nate started to get physically affectionate. It started out a simple side hugs when we managed to pull off a job, gradually progressing into full on embraces and chaste kisses to my forehead. It used to make me blush so heavily that I could hardly speak, but it became so commonplace I grew used to it. Over the years, my crush blossomed into love. However, Nate never seemed to express any other feelings for me, so I kept it to myself, though I was often hostile to any women who showed interest in him. Eventually, I gave up on thinking we could be anything more than just friends, and I was okay with that.

Lost in my own thoughts, I wandered up some stairs, not really paying attention to what I was doing or where I was going. Rounding a corner, I happened upon yet another mercenary. Luckily for me, I startled him, so I wasn't immediately shot. I had just enough time to mutter a curse and dive for cover as the man shouted to his mates. As usual, a gunfight broke out. Alerted to the sound of gunshots, Nate and Elena came running.

"Sully was right!" Nate shouted above the gunfire, blindly firing several shots from behind his chosen barrier. "You are as bad as me when it comes to attracting trouble."

"Yeah, yeah," I snapped, shooting a couple guys. Once the room was clear, I gathered some spare ammo and reloaded my gun. "Through that gate there." I pointed to a gate at the top of some stairs. Nate used a mechanism to open the gate and the three of us walked out onto a balcony overlooking the ocean. It truly was a beautiful view if one were able to stop and enjoy it.

"I don't see any boat," Elena said. "Looks like we missed our chance." I could practically hear the excitement in her voice.

"No, there it is. On the other side of the harbor." Nate corrected, pointing to said boat. "C'mon." He started to walk off with me close behind, but Elena didn't move.

"Hey, you know what - why don't I just wait here, and you two can uh, swing around and come back and pick me up," she suggested hopefully.

"Okay, what are you up to?" Nate laughed, seeing right through her.

"Nothing," Elena assured him, flashing an innocent smile. "I just wanna, y'know, stay here and get some more footage. I'll be safe." Nate glanced at me for my opinion, but I shrugged. If she wanted to stay behind, that was fine by me.

Nate sighed. "All right - fine. But promise me you'll stay put." Elena nodded and held her hand up. He raised a brow. "Whatever that means."

Nate and I jumped across the platforms on the outside of the building. Just our luck, one of the platforms collapsed under us. I made it to the next platform fine, but Nate had to jump. I pulled him up and we continued on. We had to quickly take cover as we were once again shot at.

"These guys just don't give up, do they?" I asked rhetorically as I shot a guy carrying a rocket launcher.

"No kidding," Nate agreed. We re-entered the building and paused as a helicopter flew over us. "Who's this, now? Wait, that's not one of Eddy's…" We shared a concerned look. Whoever's copter that was, it didn't spell good news. After taking care of an ambush, we finally made it to the harbor. We quickly took cover and observed as men loaded up the boat.

"Hey." Nate and I both jumped as Elena snuck up behind us.

"How did you get here?" Nate inquired as I placed a hand over my rapidly beating heart.

Elena ignored him and held up her camera. "You two really need to see this."

"Now is really not the best time." He went to stand, but Elena grabbed his arm.

"No - Nate…"

Nate glared at her. "What are you doing?!"

"You really need to watch this," Elena insisted. "Just -" She shoved her camera at him. I peeked over his shoulder at the video. On the video we could see Navarro waiting in the helicopter we saw earlier. Roman was walking towards him with another man. "Aaand… Hello." Elena paused the video and my jaw dropped. The man next to Roman was none other than Sully.

"He's alive," I whispered, more to myself. I couldn't stop the small joyful laugh that escaped me. The man who had become like a father to me was alive.

Nate frowned a bit in confusion. "Huh."

"I don't know, Nate… I mean, how much do you trust this guy? It's not exactly like they're holding him at gunpoint," Elena pointed out.

Nate sighed and handed back the camera. "I know. Yeah, it seems weird." We peeked over the short wall we had hidden behind to see the boat sail away. I had to admit, it did seem suspicious that Sully was magically still alive. However, as strange as it seemed, I trusted him.

I shook my head. "In all the time Nate and I have known him, Sully has double crossed a lot of people, but never us." Elena gave me a skeptical look. I understood her concern as an outsider, but she didn't know Sully like Nate and I did.

"Alex is right," Nate agreed, causing me to smile slightly. "Sully may be a lot of things, but he's not a backstabber." He took the map out of his pocket. "Which way were they headed?"

"Uh… North-ish. Yeah, towards the mountains," Elena said, pointing to the top section of the map.

"Probably to the monastery then," I guessed.

"All right, let's go," Nate said.

"What if it turns out he's working with them?" Elena inquired.

"We either rescue him or we beat the crap out of him," Nate answered. "Hell, I might just beat the crap out of him anyway."

"We can worry about that when we rescue him," I said. We continued our journey through the customs house, of course meeting more men along the way. These guys were seriously getting on my nerves. We made it to a bridge a cautiously made our way across signal file.

"How does something like this happen?" Elena inquired, once again filming.

"See those scorch marks?" Nate asked, pointing.

"Uh-huh?"

"Somebody packed this place with enough gunpowder to blow it wide open."

"Sad really. Must have been beautiful before it was blown to bits," I commented. I froze as the bridge creaked under us.

"Whoa - watch where you step," Nate warned. "Some of these boards are really falling apart -" Just as he said this, the boards beneath Elena broke. I dove to catch her hand before she fell.

"I got you!" I grunted as I tried to pull her up. Unfortunately, the board I was holding onto to keep me up decided to break and I let out a startled scream. My descent was halted as Nate grabbed my hand. I could feel my hand slipping.

"Alex, I can't hold on!" Nate yelled, straining under Elena and I's combined weight. "Give me your other hand!" I looked down at Elena. She was still holding tightly to her camera.

"Elena, grab hold of my leg!" I told her.

Elenna stared at me, her eyes wide with fear. "What?!"

"I need my other hand! You have to let the camera go!" Elena hesitated and for a scary moment, I was afraid she wouldn't let it go. Thankfully, she did, cursing as her camera tumbled towards the water below. She wrapped her arms tightly around my leg and I grabbed Nate's hand. Slowly, Nate pulled us both back up onto the bridge. He held onto me as I trembled slightly, my heart pounding in my chest. Elena was peering sadly over the bridge, seeming more upset about losing her camera than how close she came to losing her life.

"You're all right," Nate assured me. "I've got you." He placed a comforting kiss to my hair as I calmed.

"I've had about enough of these life or death situations," I muttered, leaning into his touch.

Nate smiled lightly. "You and me both."

We continued on our way, cutting down anyone in our path. It took awhile, but we finally managed to make it to the library where they were holding Sully. We climbed to the second floor of the library and crouched behind the railing. Sully was chatting away with a couple of guards.

"She worked in this little bar in the Philippines… Oh man, she had a smile that'd melt your heart," Sully chuckled to the less than amused guards. "But oh, I swear to God, she'd just as soon kill you as a kiss you, if she caught you steppin' out. Just a wee bit of a thing. She couldn't of been much more than four-eleven. They called her 'the spinner' because she -"

"Will you shut up, old man? You told us that one a dozen times already," one of the mercenaries growled.

"Oh yeah, right. Course I did. Memory's not what it used to be." Sully told them. I frowned. What was he playing at? That man's memory was still sharp as a tack.

"What the hell's taking you so long, anyway?" The mercenary demanded.

"Well, maybe you hadn't noticed, but most of these books are half-rotten. And written in Spanish."

"Yeah well, hurry it up. The boss is waiting on you." Just then the second mercenary spotted us.

"Hey! Up there!"

"Ah, crap!" Nate groaned. As always, a gunfight ensued. Once all the mercenaries we taking care of, we went down to the first floor to Sully.

"Ah, man. It's about time you showed up," Sully said, coming out from behind the table.

"Sorry, traffic was terrible," I joked, smiling at seeing my old friend in one piece. I embraced the older man tightly.

"Well, you're looking awfully good for a corpse," Nate remarked, giving Sully a suspicious look.

"So you brought the girl after all, huh?" Sully inquired, noticing Elena.

Elena raised an eyebrow. "The girl?"

"Hey, if it wasn't for her you wouldn't be getting rescued right now," Nate said sharply.

"If this is a rescue," Elena remarked skeptically. I glared at her. She still thought he was a traitor.

"What the hell does that mean?" Sully demanded.

"You gotta admit, Sully, this all looks a little shady," Nate pointed out. I snapped my head to Nate. Not him too. "I mean you tipping those guys off."

"And miraculously showing up alive," Elena added.

"Now wait a goddamn minute," Sully said angrily. "Roman had a contract out on me. I needed to buy some time. All right, stupid mistake. I didn't realize they'd try and track us."

"Sully, we would have been headed home with the treasure by now if you had just for once kept your mouth shut." I had to agree with Nate on that one. Sully always had a bad habit of running his mouth.

"And you might've thought of checking for a pulse before running off and leaving me for dead," Sully shot back.

"Well we might have if we weren't worried about being shot ourselves," I told him.

Sully sighed. "Look none of that matters now."

"All right, so how is it you're standing here breathing and all, huh?" Elena inquired in an accusatory tone.

Sully chuckled. "You are not gonna believe this." He smiled as he held up Francis Drake's journal, revealing a bullet-hole in the middle.

Nate grinned, all previous suspicion gone. "No way… Ol' Francis took a bullet for you?"

"Yeah." I walked over and took the journal, looking over it in awe.

"I thought this kind of thing only happened in the movies," I commented.

"Yeah, well, it still hurt like a sonofabitch, I'll tell you that," Sully said. "Anyway, once they realized I wasn't dead, I convinced Roman that they'd never find the treasure without me. So I've been trying to mislead them ever since, waiting for you two to show up."

"Well, where are they now?" Elena questioned.

Sully smirked in self satisfaction. "Well, they're chasing a little red herring I sent 'em on, on the other side of the monastery, to get rid of 'em." Sully took the journal back from me and opened it. "Look, Drake had it all figured out. See that's the symbol the Spanish used to mark their secret vaults. The treasure is hidden right here in this monastery. Find the symbol…"

"...and we find the vault," Sully, Nate, and I finished together, grinning excitedly.

"We have everything we need right here," Sully continued. "All the clues to take us right to the treasure. We can do this, kids." Elena stepped up behind Nate and I and threw her arms around our shoulders.

"All right, you three aren't gonna get all chummy and leave the girl behind again, are you?" She inquired. Sully gave us a sideways glance.

"Don't even think about it, Sully," Nate chuckled. "She's got a mean right hook."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sully said. "There's more to this room than meets the eye, I'm sure of it." I studied the journal then looked up at the four statues around the room, fiddling with my rings in thought.

"It must be something to do with those statues," I mused. "Nate, help me out." Nate and I turned the statues to face the correct directions, solving the puzzle and opening a secret wall.

Nate grinned. "Bingo!" We walked down the stairs into another room.

"Oh - another library?" Sully wondered aloud.

"Huh. What now?" Elena inquired.

"Y'know, this looks familiar," Nate commented, examining one of the statues on the wall. A few minutes later, he solved another puzzle, opening another door. Sully shone his light down the dark stairwell. "Well, this looks promising. Here, let me see that." Sully passed over the flashlight and Nate shone it around. "Okay, you two sit tight. Alex and I are gonna check things out."

"Whoa, whoa, wait. No, you're not going out there alone," Elena protested.

"Yeah, Roman's men are swarming all over this place," Sully added.

"Yeah, and two people'll make a lot less noise than four," Nate pointed out. The two still didn't look convinced. "C'mon, we'll be fine. And you guys will be safe here. They don't even know about this room."

"Okay, take this with you," Sully said, handing Nate a walkie-talkie. "Leave it on channel 13 - they don't use that one. And keep us posted."

Nate nodded. "All right, you got it. Close this back up."

"Nate, Alex - be careful," Elena cautioned as we turned to enter the passageway.

Nate chuckled. "C'mon, we always are." As soon as he said this, he turned around and hit his head on the entrance archway. "Ow! I did not see that!"

"You were saying?" I asked in amusement.

Nate shot me a glare, rubbing his head. "Shut up." I chuckled and followed him into the catacombs as the door slammed closed behind us.


	6. Army of Gollums

**Hello my wonderful readers! I bring you another long chapter! Unfortunately, this adventure is drawing to a close. This is the second to last chapter. But do not fret! Among Thieves is already under way! No idea when it will be ready to start posting, took me a while to be happy enough with this one, and even now I'm still making changes. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Update: I had the wrong age for Alex when she met Nate. Not sure how I managed that, but I fixed it.**

* * *

The catacombs were as expected, dark and gloomy. Each room we entered was lined with alcoves carved into the stone walls, a final resting place for hundreds of skeletons whose names had long since been forgotten. The catacombs opened a few times into caverns, usually housing several mercenaries that we had to get around. I was thankful when we finally made it out and continued our trip through the monastery. As we climbed about, Sully's voice came over the walkie-talkie.

"_Nate, Alex, you read me?_"

"Yeah. Sully, we're just going in circles, here," Nate replied, a little frustration seeping into his tone.

"_Well, the girl and I been reading some of the books down here and it looks like there's some kind of secret gallery at the top of the church. Can you get there?_"

"Think so. Yeah."

"_All right, give us a call if you find anything._" Going off this new information, Nate and I made our way to the church. We entered the top part of the church and I spotted a patterned window at the other end. I nudged Nate and pointed.

"That symbol looks familiar," I said, recalling seeing the symbol in Drake's journal.

"That's gotta be it," Nate agreed. We used some wooden platforms to jump across to the window, solving a puzzle along the way to open it and revealing a secret area behind. Inside the secret area were more stained glass windows, each with their own symbol. We went over to the one that had the same symbol. "Well, hello there." He opened the window and we could see a cemetary down below. A mausoleum stood a little way from the church, the symbol perched on its roof. "You gotta be kidding…" Nate grumbled as he noticed two mercenaries standing outside the mausoleum door. "Hey, Sully."

"_I'm here,_" Sully answered.

"Remember Roman and Navarro, and that 'red herring' you sent them on, to get them out of the way?"

"_Yeah?_"

"Well, they're sitting right on top of the treasure vault."

"_Oh, of all the goddamn luck -_" Sully groaned.

"Look, we're gonna need a diversion to get them out of there."

"_You got it, kid. One diversion, coming right up_."

"And Sully -"

"_Yeah._"

"Once they're gone, meet us in the mausoleum. But come through the catacombs - it's safer that way," Nate instructed.

"_Gotcha_." Nate returned the walkie-talkie to his belt and we watched as a moment later, Roman and Navarro ran out of the mausoleum, Navarro yelling at his men to find Sully.

"Now we just have to get past all these goons without getting noticed," I said with a heavy sigh, hands on my hips as I surveyed all the mercenaries still on guard.

Of course, getting through the graveyard didn't go as quietly as we had hoped. We were quickly spotted and a firefight ensued, though I did get to have fun with a Dragon Sniper some moron left lying around. Once all the mercenaries were taken care of, we entered the mausoleum where Sully and Elena were waiting.

"Hey," Nate greeted while I smiled and waved at the two. Elena repeated the greeting and Sully laughed.

"I knew you two could do it! So what's next?"

Nate shrugged. "I don't know, I'm figuring it out as I go. This is definitely the right place, though." I surveyed the room. There were niches cut into the stone all around the room, each one having a different symbol below it. I knelt next to the symbol of a snake and examined it a bit closer. It appeared to be able to be turned.

"Nate, these move," I announced. "Is there anything in the journal?" Nate pulled out the journal and flipped a few pages.

"Alex, turn that one once to the right and that one twice to the left," he instructed, pointing to two different symbols. I did as told as he turned another symbol. Once the symbols were turned the right way, we heard a rumble and a secret passageway opened. Nate grinned. "Looks like we're in business." He brushed several bones to the floor, picking up a skull and tossing it to Sully. "Heads up!" Nate climbed into the passageway and Elena and I followed.

"Whaddya make of it?" Sully asked.

"I dunno, could be a dead end," Nate responded, shining his flashlight around.

Elena moved forward. "Wait, it look like there might be a passage this way -" She stopped as she stepped on something, causing the room to creak. "Uh-oh." I turned to Sully as he started to climb through.

"Sully, get out of there!" I yelled.

"Huh?"

"Move!" I ran over and shoved him out of the way just as the door slammed shut.

"Sullivan, are you okay?" Nate called into the walkie-talkie. "Sully?!"

"_Yeah, yeah, fine_," Sully responded, causing all to heave a sigh of relief. "_Alex knocked me on my ass, though._"

"Sorry," I apologized. "But you better get back to the library. We're gonna have to find another way outta here."

"Well, there's no way but forward," Nate said. We moved through the passage until we reached a huge chamber filled with criss-crossing pathways.

"What is this place?" Elena wondered.

"A really elaborate way to hide the damn treasure," Nate grumbled, clearly frustrated about having to solve yet another puzzle. I had to agree with him. I was seriously beginning to wonder if we were ever going to find El Dorado.

"Question is, which path do we take," I said, surveying the multiple routes.

"Huh - wait a second…" Nate said, kneeling next to a symbol on the floor. I walked over and noticed a 'V' shaped symbol.

"Is that a Roman numeral?" I asked. Nate didn't answer and pulled out Drake's map. On the top corner were three Roman numerals.

"These have to mean something…" Nate mused. I glanced around and noticed more Roman numerals.

"Maybe if we follow the Roman numerals from the map," I suggested.

Nate shrugged and put away the map. "It's our only lead right now." We started following to Roman numerals.

"I'll stay here and keep a lookout while you two figure out we're going to get across," Elena called. We moved through the chamber, following the Roman numerals. We came to a wheel mechanism.

"This had gotta be good for something," Nate mumbled to himself, reaching out to pull a lever.

"Uh, do you really think pulling that is a good idea?" I inquired.

Nate looked back at me. "What's the worst that could happen?"

I cocked a brow and crossed my arms. "Do you want me to answer that?"

"...Fair point, but do you have any other ideas." I opened my mouth, but couldn't come up with an answer. I shut my mouth and with a sigh, waved in a 'go ahead' motion. He pulled the lever, causing several connecting wheels to start turning.

"Nate, Alex, did you do that?" Elena called. "Things just started moving down here!" We continued following the path until we reached a dead end. Nate stepped out onto a small wooden platform at the edge.

"Hey! We made it!" Nate called, waving excitedly to Elena below us.

"Hey, be careful!" I warned. "That thing doesn't look very safe - NATE!" As I spoke, the platform rocked beneath him, causing him to lose his balance and topple over the side. I leaned over the side. "Nate?!"

"It's all right! I'm okay!" Nate assured me from the platform he had thankfully landed on. I heaved a sigh of relief and climbed down to him.

"Try climbing down next time, idiota," I scolded, though I was relieved to see him unharmed.

Nate grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, not my fault everything around here is falling apart." We continued across a few more platforms and onto a lift. "Whoa… Okay…" We both screamed as the lift suddenly dropped. He turned to me. "You okay?"

I sighed in frustration. "Fine." We both looked up at a barred window on the wall beside us. The bars slid up into the wall. Nate and I shared a look and climbed up to the window and onto the other side.

"See if you can find a way to get this gate open. I'll wait here," Elena said. Movement caught my eye and I turned to look. In the distance I could see something crawling across the wall.

"What the hell?" Nate wondered, seeing the creature too. We shook it off for the time being and continued. We climbed to the next level and into another lift. Like the first one, the second lift dropped, causing us both to scream. We tumbled out of the lift, Nate landing flat on his back with me on top of him. I looked down at him, breathing heavily.

"Ciao (hi)," I said rather lamely.

"Hi," Nate replied, a soft smile on his face. I stared into his baby blue eyes, nearly getting lost in them until Elena cleared her throat. I shook my head and quickly got off Nate.

"You two okay?" Elena asked, a smirk on her face.

"Fine," I answered quickly. I patted Nate's arm as I walked by. "You make a nice landing pad by the way." We crossed a bridge onto another walkway. Suddenly, an explosion went off above us. Through the dust, Eddy appeared.

"Hey, bule! Last man alive gets the gold! You lose," Eddy chortled. "Kill them all."

"This just keeps getting better and better," Nate gumbled. We dove for cover and pulled out our pistols. We took out Eddy's men, including a couple with rocket launchers. We continued taking out Eddy's men as we moved on. We finally entered a large circular room with no exit in sight.

"There's nothing here," Elena said shining a torch around.

Nate let out a huff of frustration. "This is getting so old." We looked around and Nate moved over to one side.

"Nate...?" I questioned, following him. He knelt next to a corpse. I moved for a closer look at the corpse. Nate ran a hand over the crest on the corpse's metal collar.

"It's Drake," Nate announced quietly. I put a hand to my mouth in shock. "He never found it. He just… died here." He took off the ring from around his neck and I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Elena stood off to the side, watching the two of us silently. I gazed sadly at the corpse of the man we had spent so many years trying to find. "So much for 'greatness'. Wasted his life… for nothing." He dropped the ring in front of Drake's corpse. I gave his shoulder a light squeeze. I turned my head as I heard shouting and gunshots in the distance.

"You ready to get moving?" I asked gently.

Nate nodded, getting to his feet and gazing forlornly at Drake's corpse. "Yeah… More than ever."

"There's gotta be a way outta here," Elena insisted. The three of us looked around for a couple minutes until Nate spotted something.

"It looks like there's some kind of machinery up there." I followed his gaze and sure enough.

"If I'm not mistaken, that looks like a ladder," I added, pointing.

Elena smacked Nate's arm. "Think you can give me a boost?" Nate nodded and moved into position, cupping his hands. She stepped into his hands and he slowly lifted her up.

"Oh, you're heavier than you look," Nate groaned. I closed my eyes briefly. He was lucky he didn't say that to me. "Can you reach it?" Elena jumped and caught the bottom of the ladder, pulling herself up.

"Looks like an old hoist or something!" She called. "There's a rope - I'll try to lower it down to you! Oh, I see a tunnel - we can get out this way!" A rumbling noise shook the room. Nate and I saw Eddy and an armed guard backed into the room.

"Hello, boys," Nate said as he and I pointed our guns at them. Eddy and his guard jumped and spun around. "Easy, Eddy, easy." We heard something growling outside.

"What the heck is going on out there?" I demanded.

"Didn't you see them?!" Eddy asked, clearly terrified of whatever was making the noise.

"Oh no… Oh God, no…" Eddy's guard whimpered.

"We're trapped!"

"What is that?" Nate inquired as the growling continued, getting louder.

"We're dead! We're all dead!" Eddy cried in despair. A creature that reminded me of Gollum from Lord of the Rings suddenly jumped Eddy's guard, dragging him down into a pit. "No!" Eddy ran after his guard, firing blindly into the dark.

"Eddy, get back here," Nate ordered as he and I backed into the middle of the room, our guns at the ready. Two more creatures climbed out of the pit. "Oh crap." Eddy came back and the three of us stood back to back.

"Drake, if we don't make it out of here, I just want you to know - I hate your guts."

"Yeah, likewise pal. Now let's do this." We began to fire at the Gollum creatures. Their bodies started to pile up, but more continued to stream from the pit. I ran around the room, dodging swipes from the creatures as I fired.

"What the hell is going on down there?!" Elena demanded.

"Just get that rope down here! Fast!" Nate yelled, firing a couple rounds into another creature.

"Damn! It's totally rusted - it won't move!"

"Elena?!"

"It's stuck!"

"That's right, you ugly konyok!" Eddy shouted, killing another creature as he stood dangerously close to the edge of the pit. "Don't mess with Eddy Raja!" Suddenly, a clawed hand reach out and grabbed his shirt and tried to pull him into the pit.

"Eddy!" I shouted, killing off another Gollum wannabe.

"I've got him!" Nate said. I covered him as he ran over to the struggling Indonesian. "Eddy! Hold on!" Nate grabbed Eddy's hand and attempted to pull him up. He shot one of the creatures in the face, but the second creature bit Eddy's neck, causing the man to scream as they tumbled into the pit. Nate backed away towards me. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me…"

"Elena, hurry up!" I shouted.

"Hold on, guys!" Nate and I kept shooting, having to dart to opposite sides of the room to avoid the creatures.

"Any time now!" I yelled, shooting a creature in the head. I rolled out of the way as another creature took a swipe at me. I came up in a crouch and shot the creature.

"Alex! Look out!" I turned at Nate's shout just in time to be tackled to the ground by one of the creatures, sending my gun skittering across the floor. "Alex!" I tried to hold the creature back, but it was difficult as it struggled and clawed to get at me. It sunk its claws into my thigh just as I kicked it away, causing me to cry out in pain as its claws racked down my leg. Ignoring the pain, I scrambled to my gun, spinning around to fire just as the creature jumped at me. A gunshot rang out and the creature dropped, but I hadn't fired. Nate lowered his gun and rushed over to me, glancing at my bloody leg in concern. "Alex -"

"I'm fine," I quickly assured him, though my leg felt like it was on fire. "Help me up." Nate put my right arm around his neck and his left arm around my waist. I let out a groan of pain as he lifted me to my feet.

"Elena!" Nate yelled, shooting another creature.

"I got it! It's moving!" Elena shouted. "Grab the rope!" Nate helped me limp towards the rope, making me climb first before following. "I'll swing you over - hold on!" We landed safely on the upper level just as the creatures began to swarm towards us. "Oh my -"

"Go!" Nate helped to me feet again and the three of us ran, occasionally shooting behind us. We ran into a room and Nate slammed the door behind us.

"What the hell were those things?!" Elena demanded, gun still pointed at the door.

"I don't know. I don't know," Nate replied. He turned to us. "Are you okay?"

Elena nodded. "Yeah."

"Fine," I replied through gritted teeth, trying my best to ignore the pain in my leg. I leaned against the railing across from the door, using it to take the weight from my now throbbing leg. Nate ignored my reply and walked over.

"I need to look at that," he said, gesturing to my leg.

"I'll be fine," I assured him with a dismissive wave. "We need to figure out how to get out of here." But Nate wasn't taking no for an answer. He gave me a deadpanned look before scooping me up, earning him an uncharacteristic squeak of surprise, and depositing me on a table in the middle of the room. I glared at him. "Nate!" He ignored me and proceeded to take a closer look at my wound. The creature had left four long gashes down my leg. Thankfully, they weren't deep, but they were painful and still bleeding slightly.

"Oh, Alex!" Elena gasped, finally seeing my wound.

"I've had a lot worse," I said nonchalantly.

"Don't remind me," Nate mumbled, not looking up from his inspection.

"Oh come on, we got out ok."

Nate glanced up at me with a cocked eyebrow. "You were in the hospital for a week with a knife wound, Alex. You would have been in longer if you hadn't checked yourself out."

Elena stared at me with wide eyes. "You checked yourself out?"

"I hate hospitals," I defended. I let out a yelp when Nate prodded at my wound experimentally.

"I'm going to have to clean and bandage it," he told me. "There's no telling where those things have been." He pulled out the small first-aid kit from the pack on his belt and selected the needed supplies. My knuckles turned white as I gripped the edge of the table against the pain as Nate cleaned the wound.

"Guess we're going to have to turn our "days without injury" sign back to zero," I joked.

"How long did we manage to make it this time?"

"About a week I think."

He put some antiseptic on the wound then wrapped my leg. "That ought to do it, at least until we get out of here."

"Thanks," I said, sliding off the table. I winced as I put weight on my injured leg, but waved Nate away when he tried to help. "Let's see if we can find anything useful in here." Here, appeared to be some kind of control room. Nate moved over to the large window while Elena examined some old papers on the table. I followed Nate and saw a rusted u-boat in the water below.

"Guess that explains the u-boat in the Amazon," I commented.

"Nate, Alex, c'mere. Look at this," Elena called. We walked over to the blonde. On the table was a picture of El Dorado and a sketch of a building.

"So they found it… They must've broken into the vault and cleared it out," Nate said.

"Yeah, but what's the monastery got to do with it?"

Nate shook his head in confusion. "I don't know… It doesn't make any sense. If that's where the statue is now… Oh man, we were right on top of it," he said in frustration. Elena walked over to an old rusted lift.

"I bet this'll take us to the surface." She jiggled the bars experimentally. Nate pressed the button to call the lift, but nothing happened.

"Guess the Nazis didn't pay their electric bill," Nate joked.

"Cheapskates," I huffed. I limped over to a map with a layout of the building. "You know, I bet if we can make it to the generator room, we could get the power back on. We just gotta find a way out of here first." Elena walked over and grabbed a box sitting on the table.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Nate asked. Elena ignored him and walked towards the window. "What are you doing?" She threw the box through the window, shattering the glass.

"Found a way out," Elena stated, brushing glass away from the windowsill.

Nate smiled, impressed. "Nice work."

"Let's go," I urged and went to climb out the window. Unfortunately, my leg didn't want to work with me and I stumbled back with a hiss of pain.

"Whoa, hold on," Nate protested, catching me before I fell. "You can barely walk let alone make that jump."

"I'm not letting you go out there alone," I argued.

"Alex, I don't like this any more than you do, but I can't risk you getting hurt any more than you already are."

I glared at him. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Alex, please, just stay here," Nate pleaded softly. I wanted to argue more, but something in his expression made me falter. His gaze was a mixture of concern and something else I couldn't put my finger on.

"Fine," I grumbled. "But you'd better be right back, you hear?"

Nate gave me a relieved smile. "Loud and clear." He placed a quick peck on my cheek. "Stay safe." With that, he climbed out the window. I watched as he climbed out of sight then limped back over to the table and sat down to wait. I reached up to the rings around my neck, slowly turning them in my fingers absentmindedly.

"So, do those have a story behind them too?" Elena asked.

I blinked and turned to the blonde. "Huh?" Elena nodded her head towards the rings I was playing with. "Oh. Sort of, not as fascinating as Nate's though." Elena plopped down next to me, gazing at me expectantly. I huffed lightly in amusement. "They belonged to my parents. My parents are the reason for my love of history. My mom was an Italian archeologist and my dad was an American archeologist/historian. They used to bring me to all of their digs." I looked down at the two simple silver bands, running my thumb over the thinner of the two. "After my mom died, my dad threw himself into his work. He never had time for me anymore, spending all his time with the artifacts found at his various dig sites.. Left to my own devices, I went on little digs of my own. Every once in a while, I would find something my dad deemed worth his time. Eventually he died of a broken heart."

"I'm sorry," Elena said softly, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged. "It was a long time ago. I got passed between several foster families, but none of them understood me, so I ran away. I met Nate when I was 14 and we've been together ever since."

Elena smiled warmly. "Aww, teenage romance. Not many people stay together that long."

"We're not actually together," I told her, smiling awkwardly.

Elena blinked in surprise. "Wait really?" I nodded, ignoring the painful twinge in my heart. "Huh, I thought for sure you two were dating."

I chuckled lightly and rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah, I suppose we do give off that vibe don't we?" The blonde was quiet for a moment, studying me.

"You wish you were though, don't you?" I let out a short, quiet puff of air out of my nose. She was perceptive.

"I did once," I admitted, one corner of my lips lifted in a melancholy smile, my heart giving another painful twinge. "But I gave up on that a long time ago."

"Alex," Elena said in a tone one would use when scolding a child. "I saw the look on your face at the customs house. I could tell you didn't like me being that close to Nate." I didn't reply, deciding that the wrapping on my leg was much more interesting. "You love him." It wasn't a question.

"You're rather perceptive, you know that?" I told her, giving a sidelong glance.

Elena shrugged. "Not really, you're not exactly subtle about it."

"Yeah, well, apparently I'm _too_ subtle for Nate," I mumbled. "I'm nothing more than a friend to him and that's okay. I'd rather keep him as a friend then lose him because I decided to tell him of my feelings for him."

"I don't know, Alex. I may not have known either of you for very long, but the way he acts around you, I don't think he see you as just a friend." I gazed at the blonde, wondering what she saw that I didn't. Before I could think on it further, I was distracted by the lights coming on.

"I guess he made it," I said, smiling. I jumped when I heard the lock on the door being turned.

"I thought Nate said those things couldn't get through the door," Elena said worriedly. I quickly jumped off the table, being careful to keep my weight off my injured leg and drew my pistol. I checked the magazine and cursed quietly. I only had a few rounds left.. "What do we do?" Elena's voice trembled, giving away how scared she was.

"I -" I stopped. For once, I didn't have any clue as to what to do. I was used to being the one to come up with plans or find a way out of trouble. Here, we were trapped, we had nowhere to go. Elena stared at me, her fear evident in her eyes as she looked at me for instructions. I stared back and sadly shook my head. The wheel stopped turning and the door swung open, revealing several mercenaries, Navarro, and Roman. I aimed my pistol at the group, Elena following suit. The mercenaries shouted and aimed their guns at us, but Roman held up a hand.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Roman said in his usual calm manner. "I'm surprised Drake left you two here alone."

I glared at Roman. "We're perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves, I would've thought the sea of dead mercenaries we've left behind would've told you that."

Roman sneered. "Yes, you and your partner have certainly been quite the nuisance. Even Sullivan has proved to be troublesome. Quite frankly, I'm getting tired of it." Roman glanced at Navarro and Navarro signaled to his men, who aimed their guns at us again. Elena and I instinctively took a step back. "Now, seeing as you're outnumbered and outgunned, I suggest you surrender quietly." I adjusted my grip on my gun, weighing my options. "I wouldn't try," Roman warned. "You won't last very long against my men, especially not with that injury." I glanced down at my wrapped leg, noticing briefly that blood had started to seep through the wrappings. I looked sideways at Elena, who looked scared but determined, glancing at me to see what to do. Though I hated to admit it, Roman was right, we wouldn't survive a gunfight, even if I had more ammo and my knife wouldn't be of much use either. Our only hope of survival was to surrender and hope Nate came to the rescue. I slowly lowered my gun and placed it on the table, Elena following my example. Navarro walked forward and grabbed my arm. I glared as Roman smiled smugly. "Good choice."

"It's Drake!" One of the mercenaries announced, pointing to another control room next to us.

"Send some men over," Roman ordered. The mercenary nodded and ran spoke into his radio. "Let's say hello." I stumbled a bit as Navarro dragged me to the window, one of his men following with Elena. On the other side was Nate looking rather pissed. Roman turned on a nearby microphone. "Can you hear me in there?" I saw Nate's mouth move, but was unable to hear what he said. He looked absolutely pissed. "Oh, no microphone on your end? What a shame." While Navarro was distracted, I broke free of his grasp and grabbed the microphone.

"Nate! Get outta there before -" Navarro grabbed a fistfull of my hair and yanked me back, ramming his fist into my side, causing me to cry out and double over in pain.

"Alex!" Elena shouted in concern, struggling against her own captor.

Roman sighed, annoyed at the interruption. "Navarro, if you can't maintain control over a small girl…"

"It won't happen again," Navarro assured, pulling out his gun and cocking it. "Trust me." He pulled me back up and held the gun to my head. I glared at the mercenary, but remained still.

"I'm sorry for the interruption," Roman apologized. "I just wanted to uh, thank you for leading us to El Dorado." He held up the map he had gotten from Nate. "Oh, I hope you don't mind if we borrow Miss King and Miss Fisher a little while longer. Just to discourage you and your partner from trying anything creative. So long Nate, It's been fun." Roman walked off. Navarro smiled smugly and saluted Nate. They were lucky looks couldn't kill, because they would've been six feet under with the daggers Nate was sending them.


	7. To the Rescue (revised)

**So I received a comment complaining that Alex was just another damsel in distress so I decided to rewrite this chapter in the hopes it would better fit with Alex's personality. The actual comment was made on the previous chapter in response to I'm assuming the part where Alex and Elena are caught by Roman. In my defense, I wrote it like that because I needed Alex and Elena to talk and that was the best place I could think of to put it. Please let me know what you guys think, but be nice. I wrote this because I thought it would be fun and that other people would enjoy it. I did not write it so other people could tell me how to write my own stories. Anyways, I hope this is better and please enjoy!**

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Elena and I were dragged through the city and down below to a huge treasure room, our hands now tied behind our backs. I stared wide eyed at the giant gold statue standing in the middle. El Dorado. It was even creepier in person, the fanged face making me uneasy. Roman approached the statue and Navarro stopped beside it, still gripping tightly to my arm. Movement to my left caught my eye and I turned to see Nate and Sully entered the treasure room. Unfortunately, before they could do anything, two mercenaries snuck up behind them.

"You two should realise by now that I plan for every contingency," Roman chuckled, turning around. "Now, drop your weapons. Down there." He pointed to a puddle of water below them. "No heroics, please. Or I will kill them." Navarro held his gun to the side of my head as emphasis. I struggled slightly and Navarro tightened his grip, causing me to wince slightly. Nate and Sully reluctantly tossed their weapons to the ground. "Good. Now, if you'll just hang tight, we'll be with you in a moment." Roman turned his attention back to El Dorado, examining it with barely contained awe. "It's magnificent. The craftsmanship, I've never seen anything like it before.

"That is only a shell," Navarro told him. "The real treasure of El Dorado lies inside." He laughed gleefully as Roman gave him a curious look. "Open it." The way Navarro said this made me very nervous. Roman didn't seem to notice and pried the statue open. Inside was a rotting corpse. I drew back slightly in disgust.

"My God…" I heard Nate whisper. Dust billowed from the corpse's mouth, causing Roman to cough.

"Watch this," Navarro whispered to me, watching the scene before us with glee. I was so focused on what was going on in front of me, I forgot to be disgusted by his close proximity. Still coughing, Roman closed the statue and collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath.

"Navarro…" Roman growled, but it didn't sound remotely human. Roman turned and snarled. I instinctively took a step back in surprise, muttering an Italian curse. Roman's eyes had turned black and blood and saliva was dripping from his nose and mouth. He stood and staggered toward Navarro and I. Navarro merely shot him in the face.

"Adios, jefe. So little imagination," Navarro laughed. "Bajen la red!" His mercenaries repeated the order and a net fell down over the statue through a hole in the ceiling.

"Navarro, that thing wiped out an entire colony. You don't know what you're doing," Nate warned.

"Wrong. I'm the only person on this island who know what the hell he's doing!" Navarro corrected. "Cargue la estatua. Cuidado." Two mercenaries started moving the statue. "You are so pathetic, all of you scrambling around for your petty treasures. Do you have any idea what this is worth, to the right buyer? Levantenlo!" The order was repeated and a helicopter lifted the statue out of the room. I glanced around nervously and Navarro swung his gun around as snarling filled the room. Dozens of Gollums crawled into the room, attacking the mercenaries. Navarro backed away and dragged me from the room, up the stairs to the helicopter, settling me in the back. As we flew towards a ship, Navarro held his radio to his ear then quickly looked out the window. I looked out the window and spotted Nate hanging onto the statue. The mercenary next to me cocked his gun and leaned out the door, firing at Nate.

"Ehi, lurido porco! (hey, filthy pig)" I called, catching the mercenary's attention. I slammed my feet into his face, pushing him out of the copter. A few stray bullets hit the copter, killing the pilot. The copter pitched downward and Navarro pushed the pilot out of the way to take control, piloting us towards the ship. The copter crash landed on the ship and everything went black.

**Third Person POV**

Nate's heart stopped when he saw the copter crash onto the deck of the ship.

"Alex!" He whispered to himself. He hoped that she was all right. He spotted Navarro on the other side of the ship, looking a little worse for wear as he pulled himself from the wreckage. If Navarro survived, then there was hope for Alex.

"Matenlo! Kill him!" Navarro shouted at his men. Nate dove for cover behind some crates as Navarro and his men shot at him. The only thing on Nate's mind as he took out Navarro's mercenaries was Alex. He had to make sure she was okay. After all they'd been through, he couldn't bear to lose her. Navarro ran back towards the helicopter crash and Nate followed. He stopped at the top of the ramp, noticing Alex lying unconscious in the wreck, at least he hoped she was just unconscious.

"Alex!" Nate ran forward, but was blasted back when Navarro blew up a nearby barrel. He landed hard, his gun flying out of his hand and over the side of the ship. "Oh crap - now what?" He took cover behind some crates and worked his way closer to Navarro. Finally seeing an opportunity, Nate darted from cover and was just about to deck Navarro when there was a loud clang and Navarro went stiff before collapsing to the ground. Nate stared at the unconscious Peruvian in surprise for a moment before switching his gaze to the source of the headache Navarro was going to wake up with. Alex stood right behind where Navarro had just been, blood trickling down the side of her face from a cut above her eye, still holding aloft a broken piece of the helicopter she had used to clobber him. "Alex - what - ?" Nate was so stunned he was having trouble getting his sentences to form correctly. Alex lowered her weapon to her shoulder and placed a hand on her hip.

"What took you so long?" She asked, her tone sounding as if she were cross, but the smirk playing at her lips said otherwise. Nate moved forward, stepping over the still unconscious Navarro.

"Are you okay?" He fretted, his hands hovering over her as if he wasn't sure where to put them without fear of hurting her. Alex waved him off with a half smile.

"I'm fine, Nate," she assured him. "Bit banged up, but that's par for our course." He was about to reply when movement behind him caught her attention. "Duck!" She tackled Nate to the ground as bullets perforated the metal of the helicopter right where they had been standing. Navarro was back on his feet, shotgun in hand. Alex quickly picked herself up, grabbing her makeshift weapon as she charged at the Peruvian. Navarro dodged her first swing and blocked her second with his gun, shoving her back. Alex stumbled a few paces and Navarro took the opportunity to bash her in the chest with the butt of his gun. Alex gasped for breath as the air was knocked out of her. Navarro leveled his gun at her, but grunted as Nate barreled into him. The two men struggled on the ground, kicking and punching in an attempt to get the upper hand. Navarro sent an uppercut to Nate's jaw, sending the treasure hunter sprawling. Before Nate could recover, a shotgun was pointed at his face.

"Say goodbye, Drake," Navarro grinned, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He cocked the gun, but before he could pull the trigger, another voice called out.

"Hey, stronzo! (asshole)" Navarro looked up to see Alex standing by the helicopter. She shoved her shoulder into the metal frame once, twice, three times, sending the crash toppling over the edge of the ship and into the water below. "Say hello to Davy Jones for me." Navarro frowned in confusion until he glanced down and realized he was standing in the rope that was still attached to the wrecked helicopter. Before he could react, the rope tightened around his ankle and dragged him across the ship and overboard, taking El Dorado with him.

Alex POV

I stood for a moment as I watched the statue disappear below the waves. Taking a deep breath, I turned back around to Nate, who was picking himself up and rubbing his jaw.

"You okay?" I asked.

Nate chuckled. "I should be the one asking you. You were the one who crashed the helicopter." I shrugged nonchalantly, but winced lightly as I pulled a sore muscle.

"Nothing that won't heal. Probably have a couple more scars to add to my growing collection." Nate and I turned to look out at the ocean once more, spotting a small boat headed our way, Sully and Elena safely on board. We waved and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Quite a day," I remarked, leaning against the railing and shifting weight off my injured leg which had begun to ache as the adrenaline slowly worked its way out of my system.

"Yeah - yeah, save the world, triumph over evil - par for our course," Nate replied.

I laughed lightly. "We should start charging for our services."

Nate chuckled. "It's a shame we're leaving empty handed, though."

"Well, we may not have found any treasure, but I did manage to save one small thing." I pulled out Francis Drake's ring from my pocket. "I thought you might miss this." I hung the ring back around his neck, running my finger over the metal band.

"Thanks," Nate said. He gazed down at me softly, lifting a hand to stroke my cheek and I found myself blushing as I stared into his baby blue eyes. "I thought I lost you when I saw the copter crash," he admitted quietly.

I smiled lightly. "Can't get rid of me that easily." A look came into his eyes that I couldn't place. He started to lean down and my heart skipped a beat. Was - was he going to kiss me?

"You two got a funny idea of romantic," Sully interrupted, causing Nate to straighten with a sigh. I huffed lightly, one corner of my lips lifting in a smile as I turned to our cigar smoking friend.

"Sully! Elena! Wow. You - you look like hell," Nate said, his arm slipping around my waist.

"You should see the other guys," Sully replied, resting his shotgun on his shoulder.

"We got a boat," Elena announced.

"Hate to break it to ya, but we already have a boat," I said, gesturing to the huge boat Nate and I stood on.

"Yeah. Big boat," Nate added.

Sully chuckled. "I like this one better." He pulled away a tarp from a pile, revealing several crates of gold and treasure. Elena and Sully laughed as Nate and I gasped.

"Sully, you beautiful sonofabitch!" Nate called gleefully.

"Borrowed it off a couple of pirates who were too dead to care."

"I changed my mind, I like that boat better," I decided, causing the other three to laugh.

Later, the four of us sat on the boat, Sully driving of course. Elena was up with Sully as he relayed some of his own adventures, including some from shortly after Nate and I met him. Nate was standing at the end of the boat while I was sitting on the treasure, resting my newly patched leg. With a little difficulty, I got to my feet and limped over to Nate.

"How's your leg doing?" Nate inquired.

"Sore, but otherwise okay," I answered. "Nothing I can't handle."

Nate smiled fondly. "Not enough to stop you, is it?"

"Course not. I'll be ready for the next adventure life decided to throw at us," I assured him. Nate glanced down at me and slipped an arm around my waist, drawing me close. As we watched the sunset together, I thought that maybe, just maybe I might have a chance.

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**I'm still working on the Among Thieves. I'm really trying to make it as good as possible, but as always I'm going through writing spurts. Just to give youg guys an idea of where I am, I've reached the part where Nate, Alex, and Chloe are looking for the temple.**


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